


Real and Rare and Magic

by Twin_Kitten



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Fandom
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Age Difference, Alpha Ben Solo, Alpha Kylo Ren, Alpha Males, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Alternate Universe - Romantic Comedy, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, Awkward Romance, Awkward Sexual Situations, Belligerent Sexual Tension, Ben Solo is a literal dog, Ben is a princess, Comedy, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Smut, Force Bond (Star Wars), Forced Bonding, Forced force-bond, Magic, Magic-Users, Mates, Protectiveness, Roadtrip, Rom-com, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Romantic Soulmates, Romantic Tension, Sexual Tension, Sharing a Bed, Size Difference, Size Kink, Slow Romance, Swearing, Tension, The family is fine, True Mates, Warlocks, Were-Creatures, Werewolf Mates, Werewolf!BenSolo, Werewolf!KyloRen, Werewolves, Witch!Rey, Witchcraft, Witches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-14
Updated: 2019-02-02
Packaged: 2019-03-31 12:40:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 20,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13975353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twin_Kitten/pseuds/Twin_Kitten
Summary: Ben is a werewolf/shifter trapped in his animal form by an evil warlock, and caught by animal control. Rey is a young and untrained witch looking for a familiar and a friend. In a world where magic is real and love is rare, can these two lost souls find their way through?





	1. Meet your familiar...

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I'm still working my show, but I had to start posting this. I reserve the right to come back and make little changes as the story progresses, but I'll try to note it when it happens. This is pretty rough because I've just been pounding it out and not had the time to go back and edit much, but there are a bunch of chapters.
> 
> I tagged this as werewolf, but it is actually shifter, in that shifters can change whenever they want and are not controlled by the moon. Minor lore differences. This one might be long and I have no idea when the sex is going to happen. But it will eventually happen. Once Ben stops being a dog.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben is a dog and he is not happy about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Edited 3-26-18*  
> Added picture links and changed a few things, because I didn't know this was a comedy until later. Pictures are not exact and are only to give reference.

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/143464058@N07/43924460742/in/dateposted-public/)

 

_This is bullshit._ Ben stared through the chain link gate of his kennel in the animal shelter. _Do I look like a stray dog?!_ The answer should have been an emphatic no. Anyone with half a brain should be able to tell that he wasn’t an ordinary dog.  
  
Under regular circumstances, Ben was a big and powerful shifter in both his animal form and his human body. [As a wolf](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1etA0PIQfzYjCPQWjOg_T--N3oSykgWS0), his fur was a mix of black and grey, soft and wiry. His body was huge; 6 feet long not counting his tail, with over 200 pounds of muscle, he was[ bigger than a real wolf](https://drive.google.com/open?id=137wwX-WLF4L86jz9TX-IUy0hXZxqzObM) and bigger than an average wolf shifter. When he walked on human legs, he was close to 6 and a half feet tall, and just as packed with muscle, though his frame carried it well and his height kept him looking trim instead of bulky. His human coloring was similar to his wolf’s; dark hair that was a bit too long, dark brows, dark eyes, but pale skin.  
  
But Snoke had cursed him, stuck in his animal form with an illusion charm that tricked minds so that he appeared smaller and more ordinary. Right now, he had a sinking feeling he looked like a black german shepherd. An [ugly black German Shepherd](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1t8HW_SgdaSH-rAMrplexrTPtDImzvGNP). _Fucking evil warlock..._  
  
He only had himself to blame for being stuck in the pound though. By the time he realized he was trapped in this form, and that his shifter magic was not working, the catch-pole had slipped around his neck.  
  
Crammed into a too small kennel and eyeing the floor with distaste, he grunted before giving up and laying down. He had no idea how he was going to get out of this one. _Note to self, stay away from witches and warlocks…_

  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
_“You need a familiar.”_  
  
_Rey had looked up from her book, confusion in her expression. “Uh… What?”_  
  
_Poe looked smug as he smirked from behind his spellbook, and Finn nodded in agreement. “You need a familiar. It would help you focus your magic.”_  
  
_“You should get a dog!” Finn grinned from next to Poe, snuggled against his side. “Something to protect you on your dumb late night runs!”_  
  
_She had snorted. “A, I don’t need protection, I’m a witch, and B, I like running at night. Its peaceful and it clears my head. And C, I don’t want or need a familiar. I only just found out I’m a witch. Don’t give me something else I need to learn to take care of...”_  
  
That had been last week. Now, Finn was dragging Rey through the rows of cages in the First Order Animal Rescue as she mentally reviewed how she had found herself in this hellish situation. After a small argument, the two boys let it go and they spent the rest of the night eating popcorn and watching netflix. Only to have Finn trick her into coming to the shelter under the guise of going to the store.  


The sign outside had a row of dogs and cats all wearing strange white helmets. Funny as it was, it didn’t make her like the situation.

  
Rey hated shelters. They reminded her too much of orphanages. Helpless things looking for a family and a home. She liked the idea of adopting pets, even if she had never been in a situation that she could, but hated actually visiting the place. Even if she took one home, there were rows and rows of animals she couldn’t save. It broke her heart.  
  
But it didn’t stop Finn from showing her dog after dog. Each one called to her, but nothing broke through her mantra of _‘I don’t need a dog, there is no room for one in my life right now.’_  
  
Until she saw him. None of the animals belonged in these cages but he looked particularly out of place. What in the world was a big black German Shepherd doing in a shelter? A dog like that was expensive to get and expensive to keep, for all that he looked a bit worse for wear, so why would an owner give him up? Leaving Finn looking at some puppies, she moved closer to the kennel with the shepherd.  
  
He looked up at her with intelligent eyes, an almost human expression of boredom in the brown depths, and with a resigned sigh, he stood from where he had been laying at the back of the kennel. Sitting down in front of her, there was no eagerness like in the other dogs, just a resignation that he had to do this, as if he were putting on a show and only barely playing along.  
  
He looked a bit ragged, his fur sort of uneven and lumpy, as if shaggy and matted, and he was dirty in an odd sort of way that wasn’t the same as the other shelter dogs. He clearly hadn’t been brushed, loose fur sticking to his body and falling as he moved, and there wasn’t any shine to his fur.  
  
But something about him was pulling at her. Like an old friend or something she recognized.  
  
Crouching down she spoke softly, carefully pressing her hand to the chainlink so he could sniff her. “Hey, Big Guy… What are you doing here?”  
  
His nose was dry when it rubbed against her hand, whuffing hot breath over her skin, but he made no indication that he might bite, so she wiggled her fingers through the fence and scratched him, gently running her nails along the bone of his chin. He seemed to hesitate, as if he were above silly things like being petted, but then leaned against the fence with a soft huff of breath, the barest hint of pleasure in the sound. Rey giggled. His attitude reminded her of cats; nothing you did was good enough but still wanting whatever you offered. “What a big boy you are….”  
  
Still rubbing her fingers under his chin, her other hand stroked over his back as well as she could with the fence between them. His fur looked grubby and gross, but it felt better than she expected; a wiry top coat protecting the downy soft under coat, and she didn’t feel any mats or tangles even if he had looked like he’d been covered in them. He was in good shape, he felt solid but not fat, so clearly someone had been feeding and caring for him before he came to the shelter. “You don’t belong here, do you…”  
  
His body stiffened, and his head twisted to look at her with those thoughtful eyes before flicking to look at something behind her. Footsteps, then a voice, clued her in to what he had been looking at. Finn. “Rey, I think I found a… Oh hun, not that one.”  
  
Still crouched on the ground, fingers buried in the thick fur of the dog that had somehow entranced her, she looked up and over her shoulder. Finn was frowning down at her and the dog, his face a familiar mix of protective wariness and concern for her choices. “What’s wrong with this one?” After a moment, she smiled at the dog. “I like him.”  
  
Finn sighed, the long suffering sigh of a man who was used to talking her out of crazy ideas. “Well… He’s huge… and kinda gross. You need something smaller; this one is, well, he’s bigger than you are. Shepherds are not a good choice for first time dog owners. There’s a cute lab in the other row that would fit you, and your apartment, a lot better.”  
  
Rey grinned. “You wanted something that could run with me and protect me. Look at him! Clean him up and I bet just looking at him would scare off any of those imaginary attackers.” The dog was looking between the two of them as if he understood, but Rey knew he was just following whoever was talking. Her voice turned crooning and she grinned at the dog as she cooed at him, “Wouldn’t you? You would be a big scary boy for me, yeah?”  
  
“Yeah, on that note, just looking at him gives me the heeby-jeebies. He’s…” Finn shrugged. “I don’t know, he gives me a weird vibe.”  
  
The dog snorted, as if offended, and Rey laughed. She knew she was projecting human emotions onto the dog’s behavior, but she liked how he seemed to be listening and commenting on the conversation. “A weird vibe? Really, Finn?”  
  
Finn scrunched his face. “Yes, a weird vibe. His eyes…”  
  
Rey rolled her eyes, cutting him off. “His eyes show how smart he is.”  
  
“Ok, whatever, but what about BB?” Finn crossed his arms over his chest glaring at the dog, who just gave him an aloof look, his chin tilting up as if he were above Finn. “He looks like he’d rip her to pieces.”  
  
BB was Poe’s familiar, an orange and white cat, who was mostly a round ball of fluff. Rey looked appraisingly at the dog for a moment, then stood, brushing fur off her hands as she turned to Finn. The man looked smug until she raised her eyebrows. “BB can take care of herself, and his card says that he is not animal aggressive,” Finn started to interrupt, but she just walked away and he was forced to follow her as she spoke. “And once I bond with him, it will be easy to make him understand that he has to be nice to BB.”

And that was that as far as Rey was concerned.


	2. Who named him Kyle?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey gets a dog. A sassy picky dog.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Edit 3-26-18*  
> Added links and changed a few little things

Ben stared at the two people walking away and sighed. He had been in the shelter three days, and so far his plan was ‘get adopted’ then escape from there. He was certain he could find his way back to his pack without much trouble, but that depended on where he was right now. He hadn't recognized any landmarks when he had escaped from Snoke.

 

The problem with the plan? No one seemed interested in adopting him, which wounded his pride in ways he couldn’t explain.  People should be honored to adopt him. Then he reminded himself that he wasn’t a dog, and this was not a reflection on his real self.  
  
These people would cower if they knew what he really was, they would scream and run in fear. He was a werewolf prince, an alpha, and the head of his pack. But for now, he was confined to sitting behind a fence and eating kibble. It was an insult to his dignity, but he would endure.   
  
The girl had been the only one to show any interest, and she had immediately showered praise on him, which somewhat soothed his pride. Whatever Snoke had done to him had muted his senses; his vision, hearing, and sense of smell were not as strong as usual. But she had smelled good and her voice had been soft. The guy with her had been annoying, interrupting the nice touches she was giving Ben and then trying to convince her not to adopt him. _Jerk_ .   
  
Luckily, it seemed the young man was not very successful at convincing the woman to pick another dog. The two of them returned with a tired looking shelter worker, who unlocked the cage and blocked Ben’s escape with his leg, clipping a leash to the collar they had put on him. Leading him out to a small room, Ben watched as the young woman crouched on the ground and the attendant shut the door before letting him off the leash and leaving them alone.   
  
He wasn’t sure what the girl had liked about him, but she hadn’t been put off by him not being very enthusiastic or dog-like, so he figured he should continue in the same way. That would be easy, since his natural state was fairly stoic unless he was provoked. So he padded over on his heavy paws and sat next to her, his shoulder leaning against her slightly.   
  
She chuckled, the sound warm and low, and then he felt a slim arm wrap over his back, fingers burrowing through his fur to rub and scratch him. Ben huffed. He was not a dog and he was not a pet. He was a terrifying shifter. A werewolf. A beast of nightmares. No one should pet him and he should not like it. He was above that kind of thing.   
  
But it felt really good.   
  
He relaxed slowly, listening to the conversation around him. The young man was trying to convince the woman not to adopt him. So far she wasn’t having it, but the man made a convincing argument. He _was_ a big ‘dog’. [She ](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1RlRvFok6_whLfSo4qcJGCdFVEm961m9p) [ _was_ ](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1RlRvFok6_whLfSo4qcJGCdFVEm961m9p) [smaller than him](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1RlRvFok6_whLfSo4qcJGCdFVEm961m9p), though he really couldn’t judge her size in a human comparison while in this body. He _would_ eat a ton of food, though he desperately hoped she picked something better than the crappy kibble the shelter fed him. She apparently lived in an apartment, which Ben couldn’t stand even in his human form, and really wasn’t a great idea for an animal his size even _if_ he was a dog.   
  
But she was his only chance so he had to convince her.   
  
So he tried to give what he thought was a friendly grunt, and shifted his body to lay his head in her lap. Her fingers moved to his ears and he barely resisted sighing at the pleasure of her nails scratching the crease where they joined his head. No wonder dogs liked this. No one had ever petted him when he was in his wolf body, and this was… nice.   
  
She was arguing with the man, Ben couldn’t quite figure out if he was a friend or a boyfriend but he was leaning towards friend, but she seemed to be set on taking him home. She was clearly the dominant friend in the relationship, so Ben couldn’t figure out why the more timid man was even still arguing. He closed his eyes, bored of these human squabbles, and waited.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
She had signed all the paperwork, paid the fees and the dog license, and loaded the dog into Finn’s crappy hatchback. He had looked annoyed at the size of the car and then offended when they put him in the back. They didn’t usually drive, but Finn had planned to take a dog home and hadn’t wanted to risk the bus with a brand new dog that they didn’t know how it would react.   
  
Then they argued about his name as they cruised the pet store, buying the stuff they needed, and trying collars and leashes and harnesses on the dog. A few people in the store had blinked at him, staring for a few long moments before moving along, and something about the way their eyes skated over him gave Rey an odd feeling she couldn’t put her finger on. But she shrugged and continued picking out toys and arguing with Finn, who was still not happy she had picked the dog.   
  
In his paperwork someone had named him Kyle, of all the ridiculous names. Finn kept pushing for cutesy names, like Fuffy and Pepper, most of which seemed to irritate the dog. Rey wanted to wait and get to know him first, and once the bond was in place, she would have a better idea of what he wanted to be called.   
  
Whatever his name was, he had been surprisingly tolerant of the process. It took longer than it should have, because things that looked like they would fit him, didn't. Somehow he was bigger than he looked. He had turned up his nose and refused a few of the items suggested by Finn, but seemed pleased when they settled on a wide leather collar, a thick matching leash, a big bed, and a plethora of brushes.

  
He only got pushy when it came to picking out food. He flat out refused to even sniff the cheaper brands, sitting in front of the refrigerated foods, and a few dry foods that were ‘grain-free,’ had ‘real meat,’ and were ‘all natural’... which of course cost an arm and a leg. But since becoming a witch, money wasn’t as much of a problem. She even bought a book about caring for German Shepherds.   
  
Finn had been right. German Shepherds were not a good choice for first time dog owners; even the book had said as much. And after spending a few hours with him, she knew this dog was not like other dogs. But she liked him anyway, despite his oddities.   
  
Rey smiled at the giant dog now laying on her small couch. He looked absurdly large in her apartment. With a soft voice, she coaxed him to make room for her on the couch and slowly started to brush him, careful not to tug or upset him too much. He would need to enjoy grooming if she was going to have any chance of getting him looking nice and keeping him that way. So, she was going to make a routine of brushing him as they settled down for the night.   
  
So far, he seemed accepting, but everything about him was guesswork until Poe could came over tomorrow to help her through making a Familiar-bond. The dog had huffed, and panted, and tugged the leash during their first run, actually prompting her to run a bit further and longer than usual, and he seemed disappointed when the run was over. But he didn’t fight her when they headed back to the apartment, he just closely examined their surroundings.   
  
“You are a strange dog…” She murmured, stroking her fingers over his shoulder and furry side, scratching and rubbing him with her fingers before pulling the brush through the thick fur. He huffed, twisted his head to glare at her with those deep and too smart eyes, then lay back down with his head in her lap. “Oh, my apologies, princess.”   
  
He sighed noisily, and Rey giggled imagining him rolling his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't respond to every comment, but I do read and love every single one, and I brag about them, and get stupid excited over them. :)


	3. Emperor, not Princess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DogBen sees Rey in a new way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Edited 3-26-18*  
> Added a scene

Ben knew girls didn’t sleep in their clothes. He knew it was dark and that Rey had been yawning for the past hour, so it was probably getting close to bedtime. He also knew he was expected to sleep on the dog bed on the floor.

 

And yet, when he followed Rey into her room and she started taking off her clothes, he was surprised. Until just that moment, he hadn’t thought of Rey as a woman in that way. Being in his wolf form didn’t really lend itself to those kinds of thoughts and he had been focused on other things, like how he was going to get back to his pack and how they would break the curse on him.

 

So seeing her in a pale bra, and then completely topless was… Shocking. Rey was attractive? The skin of his ears prickled at the thought, and before he had a chance to think or react beyond that moment, she was sliding on a thin tank top and kicking off her jeans.

 

And now that he’d had the thought, he had to fully think about it. He watched as she brushed her teeth and braided her hair before bed, and visually examined her.

 

She was human, and he had never dated a human, so he had to rearrange his thoughts a bit to make room for the idea. She seemed slim, but strong, and fairly average with brown hair and brown eyes. But he knew that in his human form he would have been aroused by her. Her breasts had been small but looked delicious and the way her thighs joined to her bottom in her panties had been very grabable.

 

So when she crawled into her bed, tucked under the blankets, he followed and heaved himself up to lay across her legs. She chuckled, reaching down to pat him then murmuring something about his dog bed. Ben found himself thinking that her bed was far too small for a wolf or man his size. Something whispered at the back of his mind as he was falling asleep, the same thing that had tickled his consciousness when he first scented her, but he was too sleepy to pay as much attention as he should.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
Ben rolled his eyes. This girl was trying his patience. _She’s late._ In the too sweet voice people used with pets, she had said she would be home at four. Something about delivering supplies for work then going shopping. Ben glanced at the clock. _4:27._ She had left at two. It cannot possibly take this long to go shopping.   
  
He supposed, if pressed, he would say Rey was acceptable as a fake owner, despite being late. She was unacceptably poor though. Her apartment was small, only one bedroom with a too small bed, and in need of repair. Her belongings and furniture were cheap. He honestly had no idea how people lived like this. She put far too much cream and sugar in her coffee this morning, had deplorable eating habits judging by her fridge and cabinets, and was embarrassingly affectionate with him.   
  
But she seemed unusually attuned to him, talking to him and behaving as if she knew his moods. She brushed him vigorously yesterday and this morning which had him finally looking decent, and he would never ever admit that he liked it, but… it felt shockingly good and it soothed his pride that he at least looked close to himself now. She had decent taste in television shows judging by what he had seen of her netflix queue, so he wasn't ready to blow his brains out or maul her to death.

 

Not that he could have, since he didn't have thumbs or a gun, and if he mauled her he wouldn't be able to escape the apartment. Thankfully, she was active, she took him on a run of about 5 miles yesterday and had seemed used to it, and from his research nosing through her belongings, she did yoga though he hadn't seen her do it.  
  
The run had enlightened him a bit about where he was. Niima City, which he had never heard of, in fucking Jakku, which he had. He was in a state about a zillion miles from Coruscant City, on the other side of the country. He didn't know exactly how far, because he had never had the misfortune of having to visit this armpit of a city, but he might as well have been on the moon. There was no way for him to get back to his pack without breaking this curse or having human assistance. And he wasn't sure how he would get either of those things.   
  
He could have escaped. Getting away from her on the evening run would have been simple, and pushing past her through the door would be easy. He was a werewolf… even if he was magically neutered and his strength was diminished at the moment. There was no way a small human woman could stop him if he wanted to escape. But there was no point, since he had no place to go. He hadn't scented another wolf when they had gone on their run, so he couldn't go to another pack for help, and stuck in this form there was no way he would make it across the country on his own without getting caught.   
  
He huffed another sigh. Something about her smelled... different. His muted senses couldn't seem to tell him exactly what that difference was, but he knew it was something he should recognize. After sleeping in her bed, his brain couldn’t leave it alone, and he found himself annoyed at his own distractibility. He was preoccupied thinking about what that smell was, when he should have been thinking about how to break this curse. _She was late..._   
  
There was a sound in the hall outside the front door, and Ben felt his ears perk up instinctively.  But he refused to look excited when he heard the key scrape in the lock. If he felt any pleasure at her coming home, it was only so he wasn’t alone and bored anymore.   
  
When she spilled in through the door, all limbs and crinkling plastic bags, she was happier than usual. Which was saying something, considering Ben thought she was already far too cheerful. She was humming when she shut the door, arms laden with several bags of groceries, her face red from carrying it up the stairs. Seeing him staring at her with one ear cocked, she laughed. “Got it all in one trip!”   
  
Her expression said that was some kind of victory, and he snorted as he followed her into the small kitchen, which only made her laugh again. “Whatever you say, Emperor.”   
  
Though he knew she was mocking him, she had already commented on his attitude, he quite liked that name. Emperor. It was better than princess, and it didn’t lend itself to silly nicknames. So, he supposed he should encourage her to use it. With a reluctant sigh, he strolled over and rubbed his face on her arm.   
  
She looked at him with wide eyes. It was the first time he had done something like that, and he could already feel her getting excited, like a little bubble filling the room. Sure enough, she made a sound, clearly muffling her squeal for his benefit, and flung her arms around him. “Aww, I knew you would come around. You like that? You like Emperor?”   
  
He huffed, rolling his eyes at her hug and tolerating the embrace, then nudged her arm with his nose. When she sighed and let go, he bumped his head against her arm again, then ambled away, carefully placing his big paws as he stepped through the groceries strewn on the kitchen floor.   
  
She was clearly disappointed by his lack of want to cuddle, but that was too dog like for him and he was not giving in to that urge. Besides, he barely knew her. So he watched her from his spot on the couch as she danced and wiggled to the music coming from her phone as she put things away. Then she was singing and wiggling as she cooked, talking to him occasionally as wonderful smells wafted through the rooms. He definitely didn’t look at her butt as she wiggled.

 

_What a strange girl..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo, so I posted this chunk in a fit of exhaustion. It's a little bit short because the next bit is so long I couldn't break it or add it together. 
> 
> I'm living for your comments, you guys are so funny, lol.


	4. She actually did the thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Werewolves are scary enough to make you pee your pants.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Edited 3-26-18*

Rey was smiling as she shimmied her hips to the song, stirring the pasta sauce. "Okay Emperor, Finn and Poe are going to come over and then after dinner, we are going to properly introduce ourselves."  
  
She couldn't wait until she could communicate with him. It felt like he had a lot going on in his head that he couldn't communicate. She wasn't always sure if he understood what she was saying to him, and she almost never knew what he wanted from her. The familiar-bond would eliminate that barrier.   
  
Rey thought he would be a great Familiar once they could understand each other. He was so steady and solid. Dignified. Rey already felt more centered and focused, though she hadn't wanted to practice her magic around him. She didn't want him to be frightened and be unable to explain it.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
From his spot on the couch, Ben stared as the two men came into the apartment, each of them giving Rey a hug and a kiss on the cheek when she opened the door and welcomed them in. One he recognized as the man from the shelter who didn't like him, and another was a man he didn't recognize with a latin accent.   
  
Ben couldn't put his finger on it, but something itched at him when they touched her. He certainly didn't feel any sense of needing to protect her, and didn't have any strong loyalty to her despite saving him from the shelter. But when they touched her, it irritated him, like a staticky-crinkle of aluminium foil in his ear or the sharp edge of a clothing tag.   
  
It didn't help that the man from the shelter, apparently named Finn, kept staring at him as they sat around the table eating and chatting. So much so that the other man, Poe, nudged him regularly through dinner to make him stop and Rey rolled her eyes every time she saw the wary looks.   
  
_What was with these people's names?!_ Ben had heard a lot of strange and fake names in his life, after all, most paranormal beings didn't give out their real name. It gave people power over you. But Rey was a man's name, Finn was a fish's body part, and he had no idea what Poe meant. Were they hipsters that made up their own stupid names? He hadn't seen any sign that Rey was Fae, if she had been a werewolf they would have sensed each other, and the scent of magic didn't linger around her like putrid garbage. So there was no reason for them to have strange names.   
  
They were either hipster weirdos or they had incredibly strange and cruel parents. Either way, he needed to find a solution soon, because it was a long fall from alpha werewolf prince to weird girl's pet, and didn't satisfy any of his goals or needs beyond the bare minimum.   
  
But, she was currently his source of food, so when they moved to the couch and she offered him a few little chunks of cooked steak, he lowered himself to taking the bits from her hand. It was better than the dog food.   
  
So he was distracted when the two men were moving around. At first they were just putting away the dishes and things while Rey fed him the small pieces of meat. He hated to admit it but it tasted so good it was making his mouth water, and he didn't notice when they started setting up a spell circle.   
  
When Rey's hands were empty of the meat, Ben finally looked up. And froze.

 

This was a scene from his nightmares. A warlock with a spell book, candles set up in a circular pattern, and a dimly lit room. The steady rise of magical energy in the room slowly making his fur stand on end as static crackled through the air only made it worse.

 

Dogs and wolves didn't feel sensations in the same way humans did, but that didn't stop the shiver under his skin and the cold sweat creeping along his spine. Feelings he shouldn't be capable of in this body. He wanted to run, he wanted to howl and rage and destroy to get away from the situation. But he was frozen as if held in place; pinned down and paralyzed and broken by fear. He felt like he was outside his body, or screaming at a moron in a horror movie to _Run you kriffing idiot!_ Only to watch as nothing happened.

 

He could feel Rey's gentle fingers moving through his fur, could smell her and the men and meat in the air, but every part of him was terrified and could only remember Snoke. The smoke of incense in the air, the scent of burning ozone like hot metal, and the feel of chains.

 

It was her touch and the smell of her that brought him back to his body with a thump, and in an instant he was on his paws and snarling. The illusion might cover how he looked, but the sound of him was all werewolf. His growl was deep and throaty, vibrating thickly, and it spoke to the primal parts of the brain that reminded all beings that they were nothing but prey to a beast like him.

 

Humans so rarely were reminded of their place in the food chain. He smelled the fear that filled the room almost instantly, dark pleasure rising when he recognized it mixed with the men's scent, but part of him whimpered at the smell of Rey's fear. He didn't want her to be afraid of him, after all she had been kind to the dog she thought he was.

 

He stalked the two men who were backing away against the wall of her apartment, the energy in the air fizzling out. Finn was hiding behind the warlock Poe. They actively put her in danger while pretending to be her friends and then cowered like frightened rabbits. Ben hated them. Hated all magic users for what had been done to him. But he especially hated that they had brought magic into Rey's apartment and made no move to protect her, from the magic or from him. Not that she needed protection from him.

 

_Useless males..._

 

He snapped his teeth and did his best to puff himself up, hoping to intimidate them even looking like this. The acrid scent of urine told him that it had worked, and his snarl held a hint of a malicious satisfaction when he saw the dark stain on the front of Finn's pants.

 

But then there was something tugging at him, pulling back on the collar around his neck. He glanced back, ears flicking as he heard Rey pleading with him to calm down, her fingers wrapped around the leather and ineffectively trying to stop him.

 

Even though he could smell her fear, she didn't back down from his annoyed glare or the rumble in his throat. "Come on, Big Guy... Be a good boy for me...."

 

He huffed, the angry sounds in his throat dying down, but still glaring and showing his teeth to the men. Poe was standing protectively in front of Finn, his spellbook dropped to the ground as he squared off with Ben. He had no idea why the latino man was protecting the other male instead of Rey, but it made him start to grumble again. In his pack, the strong protected the weak, and big protected small.

 

He took a step forward, ignoring the weight on his collar as he dragged Rey forward, and something tingled on the base of his skull. Before he could think about it or react, a wave of black washed over his vision, he felt his legs go out, and then silence and nothingness.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

“Shit!” Finn was still trembling, leaning against the wall as Rey and Poe crouched over the giant dog, checkin him over. “Rey, seriously, you have to get rid of him!”

 

Rey rolled her eyes, carefully tugging and pushing Emperor’s body and legs so that he was laying in a more comfortable position, rather than the crumpled heap he had fallen in when she cast sleep on him. “It’s fine, its just… You guys scared him.”

 

Poe’s dark eyes flickered up to meet her gaze, concern clear in the brown depths. “Well, Conejito, it is never boring with you, hmm?”

 

Rey knew Poe was worried, more than he was letting on because if he freaked out Finn would freak out even harder. So he was staying calm to try and keep his boyfriend calm. “Can we… Can we do the bond while he is asleep? So he doesn’t get scared again?”

 

Finn gaped, his face slack as his mouth dropped open. “You can’t still want him for a familiar!? He attacked us!”

 

“He just, he doesn’t know you guys… He didn’t attack anyone, he was scared.” Rey stroked the dark fur on his side, feeling his ribs rising and falling with heavy breaths.

 

Finn slid to the floor, his legs giving out as he shook his head. “No, no, we are taking him back-”

 

Rey’s face hardened as her eyes turned sharp and hard. “Really? He’s a living thing Finn, you can’t just return him like a defective toaster. And he-” She shook her head, unsure why she refused to give him up. She leaned over, meeting Poe’s eyes, “He trusts me.”

 

Poe’s eyebrows rose and his face softened, his hand reaching out and rubbing her arm gently. “He doesn’t know you, either. Finn’s right. He might not be the best choice…”

 

“I’m keeping him.” Rey knew what it felt like to have people give up on her, and she wasn’t going to give up on him. The magic scared him, that’s all. It was a good sign, actually, it showed he was sensitive to magic and would be a great familiar. He was clearly a good protector, defending her from what he thought was a threat, and he didn’t growl at her or try to bite her when she stopped him.

 

Wrapping her arms around the big dog, she rubbed her face in the fur that was far softer and thicker than it looked. “So you can either help me, or not.”

 

Practically laying on the big dog, she heard Poe sigh. “Alright alright… While he is sleeping then.” Finn spluttered, and Poe shushed him, but Rey had stopped listening. Cuddling up to the big beast was nice, and she wished he would let her do it more, but she would accept it if he didn’t.

 

Poe moved around them, rearranging the circle instead of trying to move the big dog, and walked her through it as Rey did her part. It was her magic, but Poe was more experienced, so he guided her. Opening herself up and letting down her walls was hard, even with the two men she trusted more than anyone in the world, but she did it. After that, it was a simple matter of her forging a mental connection with the dog, reaching out and finding his mind. That part would have been easier if he was awake, but she carefully and gently connected their thoughts.

 

Rey expected to feel something, but as she looked from the dog to Poe, nothing happened. She didn’t feel any different.

 

“Is that it?”

 

Poe shrugged, reaching out and sensing her surface magic. “Well, there is a connection. Maybe you don’t feel anything yet because he is asleep?” His mouth quirked in a facial version of a shrug. “Either way, we probably shouldn’t be here when he wakes up.” He pushed to his feet and helped Finn get up. “Call us if anything happens, and we will check on you tomorrow?”

 

Rey nodded getting up to say her goodbyes, locking the door after they left. Then she settled next to the unconscious Emperor on the floor, grabbing for the remote and putting on a mindless show. She stroked him softly, waiting for him to wake up.

 

She was prepared for a flood of feelings and sensations, or a trickle of slow awareness as he woke up. But that didn’t happen. Instead, after about twenty minutes, something snapped down on the tendril of magic she had reached out and connected to him. Like a shackle clamping around her wrist, it locked hard and dragged her into his mind.

 

Something pushed at her, battering the slight defenses that she still had like waves pounding at the beach. Unprepared, she was quickly overwhelmed, sucked under a tide of something she didn’t recognize. She was drowning in it, her whole world tilting before it rushed into her. She thought it would hurt or feel invasive, but it didn’t.

 

It felt like... **home**.

 

A feeling she had never known filled her with warmth and love and belonging. Acceptance she had never had and understanding she had never expected from anyone. Even Finn, who had been with her since their last foster home, had been her closest friend for years, and who loved her, had never been able to give her this unconditional sense of belonging.

 

As soon as she relaxed, accepting the invasion, it receded until there was nothing but a thread of connection. But that thread felt like an anchor tying them together. Her breath shuddered out of her and she opened her eyes, feeling like she had been crying but her cheeks were dry, looking down at the dark face of Emperor.

 

When their eyes met, a man’s voice drifted through her mind and said, clear as a bell, _“Fuck, did she…?”_

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Ben woke up slowly, bits and pieces of the world around him falling into place. He was laying on the floor. Rey’s apartment. He felt her fingers touching him. Could smell no one else was in the apartment. Could hear the low volume of the tv. Light behind his eyelids.

 

And… a presence. The feeling of someone connected to him. It was similar to what he had felt when he became Alpha of his pack. Only instead of a brief and temporary connection to every wolf in his pack, this was single connection to one person and it felt solid.

 

He had never felt anything like it. Cool and soothing, peaceful and calm. A safe place from the chaotic storm of his thoughts. As if he were standing on dry land after a life on rough seas. A sort of stability and permanence that his life had never really had. A comforting presence. Ben usually didn’t like being touched. But he liked whatever this was.

  
Lifting his head, he looked around, then up at Rey. _“Fuck, did she…?”_ The moment their eyes locked, he knew they had finished the ritual. She had bonded them when he was knocked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, someone in the comments asked about recommendations? I have a few, but not too many because I don't like recommending fics that arn't finished, and sadly a lot of the werewolf ones on AO3 are incomplete, but here you go:
> 
> 'Misbehaving for Days' by tobemadeofglass is a kind of ABO/shifter thing. Explicit, and knotting.  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/12686448
> 
> 'Conscience and Unconsciousness' by pontmercy44 is a Reylo retelling of While You Were Sleeping.  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/10212815
> 
> 'A Matter of Honor' by adoctoraday is a modern bar AU.  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/12885111
> 
> There are a few good ones that I lurk on, waiting for updates like an addict, but friends don't recommend incomplete fics to friends.... well... maybe one.
> 
> 'Hex' by HormonalTrashbag is a witchy AU. Incomplete technically, a slow burn, but good and it feels very complete.  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/8718985


	5. You can't mail a werewolf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben is Kylo, and he's pretending to be a dog. Rey thinks he is delusional.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is dumb, and I’m sure you will all laugh at this, but… I didn’t know this was a comedy until this chapter. So that changes things a little bit. I had to go back and rewrite a few parts now that it is less ‘The Notebook’ and more ‘He’s Just Not That Into You.’ You should probably reread the previous chapters if you read them before 3-26-18, because I added a scene and have made some changes throughout.

_“You bonded us together?”_ The voice in Rey’s head was masculine and deep, with a rumble that tingled along her scalp. That was unexpected. She hadn’t given much thought to what it would be like when they could communicate, beyond being able to understand each other and things would be easier. She hadn’t expected him to sound like a man or to speak in words and sentences.

 

“You can talk!” She grinned, knowing her voice was pitched higher in surprise, and reached over to scratch behind his ears. “This is so cool, I can talk to my dog. What is your name?”

 

The glare he gave her could have melted plastic. _“First of all, I’m not a dog.”_ He shook his head dislodging her hand and standing up. _“I’m a werewolf, and you may call me Kylo. Second of all, you are out of line for bonding-”_

 

Rey tilted her head and flopped against the couch, her body shaking, her laughter cutting him off even though he was speaking in her head. _“What is so amusing?”_

 

“You think…” She chuckled. “You think you are a werewolf?”

 

He grunted. _“I_ _am_ _a werewolf.”_

 

Rey giggled. “Okay, okay. Then why are you pretending to be a dog?”

 

 _“I’m not_ _pretending_ _to be a dog.”_ His head dropped before looking back up at her, and if he had been capable, she was certain that his eyes would have been rolling as he sighed heavily. _“I am trapped in my wolf form, and magically disguised to_ _look_ _like a dog.”_

 

Rey snorted, unable to stop the laughter from escaping her chest. “What? Why?”

 

Then he told her a long and somewhat ridiculous story, filled with what she assumed were exaggerated enemies (an evil warlock names Snoke, honestly?) and embellished feats of skill and strength during his harrowing escape. And a somewhat meandering list of all the indignities he had suffered.

 

Rey was certain that her eyes were the size of plates, her eyebrows had joined her hairline, and her mouth was pressed in a thin line to suppress the laughter threatening to escape. Going by the look on his face and the feelings filtering through the bond, she was not hiding her amusement very well.

 

 _“You don’t believe me…”_ His warm voice was petulant.

 

“Although impressed by this story,” Rey grinned, reaching out to scratch him but he dodged her hand, “No.. no, I don’t think you are a werewolf. I think your last owner was either delusional or a writer.”

 

 _“Fine. You can call my pack. That will prove it and get me home.”_ His mental voice was a mix of annoyed and relieved. _“Maybe this bond will be good for something after all.”_

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Ben watched as Rey called the number he told her, and watched her facial expressions with the dog version of smug satisfaction as it became obvious that she would believe him after this phone call. He didn’t know who was on the other line, but he had told her his regular codename and the pack password, and was now listening as whoever it was tried to figure out how to get him home.

 

“You can’t send someone to get him?” Rey glanced down at him and the look in her eyes was clearly unsettled by the idea that he was actually a werewolf. There was a muffled response, and she tilted her head. “I don’t think he will like that, but I’ll ask.”

 

“Hey, um, Hux says they can pay expedited shipping and have you on the east coast in 24 hours.”

 

Of course Hux would be the one on the line. _Kriffing hell, that smug bastard_ . _“Fuck no. I’m not being shipped in a crate! You tell Hux he can shove-”_

 

Rey turned away, interrupting his protest, “Yeah he says no.” There was a pause and then she scoffed. “Yeah, I’m not doing that.”

 

Ben assumed Hux had suggested drugging him, because that is how the redhead did things. He appreciated that Rey didn’t want to do whatever Hux was suggesting, but he wasn’t very sure of their other options.

 

“I can’t, I don’t have a car.”

 

Ben lifted his ear, returning his attention to Rey and her conversation. She sounded annoyed.

 

Then her eyebrows rose and her voice pitched up in surprise. “Seriously?”

 

_“What?”_

 

Rey rolled her eyes at his pushy tone, but covered the mouth to talk to him. “He wants me to drive you cross country, and he’s willing to get me a car…”

 

Ben snorted. Of course Hux was trying to cheap out. _“Tell him I want a van, and a credit card, and a thousand cash.”_

 

The look Rey gave him was incredulous. “What, no! How would I even ask him for that?! You are a dog, how would you use it!?”

 

Ben rolled his eyes. _“Just do it or he will cheap out and you will be out of pocket for expenses. Plus we will need hotel rooms along the way.”_

 

“You werewolves are seriously weird.” She shook her head and relayed the information to Hux with a doubting tone. “He wants a van, and a credit card, and a bunch of cash.” There was a pause. “Seriously? Okay…” Another pause and Ben was annoyed that Snoke’s magic made it so he couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation. “Yea, this number is fine. You can text it to me and I’ll text back I guess.”

 

She hung up and for a few minutes Ben watched her stare at the phone then glance at him, then stare at the phone again. Then finally she spoke. “That was the strangest conversation.”

 

_“Why?”_

 

“He said yes. To everything you asked for.” Rey looked so confused it was cute. “He’s going to text me instructions once he gets everything organized.”

 

 _“Of course. I’m his Alpha.”_ Ben was used to it. As a prince of his people and as Alpha of one of the biggest packs in the country, he had many resources at his disposal, and he wasn’t afraid to use them.

 

Rey huffed a laugh, before pushing to her feet. “You are so spoiled. Come on,” She moved towards the bathroom, “If I’m going to be in a car with you for a week, you need a bath.”

 

Ben backed away, his ears flat to his head.


	6. But you can ship him with Rey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bath time for Kylo.....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Props to SarahBearah1914 for giving me the bath idea. I originally was going to go straight to the road trip but she mentioned a bath in her comment and I was like "LightBulb!" So thanks to her you are essentially getting extra content. ;P

_ "I hate you." _

 

Rey giggled. "It’s just a bath. You’ve taken a shower before, right?"

 

“ _ Of course! But not in my wolf form...” _

 

Rolling her eyes, she assured him she would be gentle. He had protested the whole time but she refused to take him on a road trip across the country unless he took a bath. Eventually she managed to get him into the shower stall, by reminding him that he would never get home unless he was clean.

 

Now he stood, paws splayed and braced on the tile, his fur wet and dark and plastered to his body. He made quite the picture, soaking wet, and glaring at her. His ears drooped, a stream of water sluiced over his eye, his tail hung down, and his back was bowed as she sprayed water over him.

 

Rey took mercy on him and, as soon as he was wet all over, turned off the water. Kneeling next to him in her junky shorts and tank top, she squirted her body wash over his back. “Sorry, you get to smell like honeysuckle. I don’t have dog shampoo.” She really should have bought some but hadn’t thought about it when they had been at the pet store.

 

He stood, stoic and silent, clearly pouting over the situation.

 

Rubbing her hands over his body, her fingers furrowing through his fur as she worked the bubbles and lather through his thick hair, she sighed.  _ God, he’s a big dog. _

 

There was a grumble, and then his voice in her head. “ _ I’m not a dog.” _ He stood a little straighter and prouder for a moment. “ _ You can’t see it right now, but I’m one of the largest werewolves in my pack.” _

 

“You heard that?”

 

He gave her an obvious look. “ _ Of course. We are bound together.” _

 

“Oh.” Rey hadn’t really thought he would be able to hear her thoughts the way she heard his, she just thought he would be able to understand her spoken words. It was a bit concerning, especially since he could turn into a human.

 

“ _I don’t turn into a human.”_ The exasperation at having to explain this to her was loud and clear even if his voice was only in her head. “ _I_ _am_ _human. I sometimes turn into a wolf.”_

 

Rey grimaced. That was worse than sometimes turning into a wolf. Obviously she would have to start guarding her thoughts now. And stop changing in front of him. Her hands froze on his back. “Did you watch me get undressed?”

 

There was a long pause, and instead of his usual imperious or annoyed tone, his voice was timid for the first time, his head cautiously tilted to avoid eye contact. “ _ Not... intentionally.” _

 

“Oh, eww!” Rey jerked back from him and he looked a bit frantic. His eyes were wide and the muscles of his face tense as he rushed to explain. “ _ It wasn’t like that! I am not that kind of person, Rey. I didn’t realize what you were doing until it was too late.” _

 

Rey shivered, looking at him with suspicion. She had known plenty of creepers in her life. “How did you not realize I was changing?!”

 

He sighed heavily, and before she could back away, he shook, sending soap and water everywhere and making her squeal. “ _ I wasn’t paying attention. If you tell me when you are going to change I will leave the room.” _

 

“Ugh,” Rey wiped the suds from her face and arms and started scrubbing him again. “I’ll try and tell you, but you have to pay more attention. Take some responsibility.”

 

She felt more than heard him grumble, and then he spoke in her head again as her hands rubbed soap down his legs. “ _ I assure you, I have no interest in watching you undress.” _

 

“Ok…” She paused, feeling offended, though she should have been relieved. Rey knew she wasn’t perfect, but she thought she was reasonably attractive. Her mouth quirked to the side and she didn’t say anything else, just scratched her nails in the thick fur, scrubbing and trying to get the soap down to his skin.

 

After a few long minutes, she rinsed him, turning the water on with the sprayer facing the wall then slowly moving the stream of water over his body until the water ran clear and his fur looked like a black oil slick. “Is the curse the reason you feel different than you look?”

 

Rey had sort of noticed it before the familiar-bond, like when her mind wandered and she went on auto-pilot, but hadn’t paid attention. Her eyes said he was a dog no bigger than a hundred pounds. Her hands said he was much bigger. But she didn’t understand how it worked.

 

_ "Of course." _ He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, clearly trying to look intimidating, but the effect was ruined by the wet droop of his body.

 

She hesitated, almost afraid to ask. "Kylo?” There was a small sound of acknowledgement that he was listening, even as he shook again. Rey backed away, and spoke as she was turning to grab the towel. “How does this curse work? Couldn’t I break it?” She dropped to her knees again and started rubbing him to dry his fur. “I am a witch.”

 

He snorted and gave her a doubtful look, his doggy eyebrows quirked. “ _ I doubt it. Considering you couldn’t even sense the magic on me, I doubt you have the power to break the spell.” _

 

“Oh…” She shrugged, wiping his face as he tried to squirm away. “I thought I could try, just in case. Now hold still!”

 

He grumbled, holding still, but his eyes kept looking away, distancing himself from what was happening. “ _ You may try, but do not be disappointed if you fail.” _ He pulled away and shook again, sighing as she rubbed over his back. “ _ Which you will.” _

 

“Hey!”

 

“ _ Snoke is an ancient wizard of unknown power, with dozens of other magic users at his command. He trapped me in my wolf form and made me look like a dog.”  _ He met her eyes with what felt like a smirk. “ _ You needed help to bond our minds in what should be a simple and easy process.” _ with one last wiggle against the towel, he pranced away, his body wiggling and rubbing against the furniture and walls.  _ "Do not be offended by facts. You are weak, and the curse is strong." _

 

“You know, you are kind of a jerk.”

 

He paused, head tilted in confusion, before continuing to rub his damp flank against the couch. “ _ Why does everyone keep saying that?” _

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

About an hour later, there was a knock at the door. Ben lifted his head and his ears quirked, but he didn't get up as Rey moved to the door. When she opened it, a man stood there and smiled at her, a bit too close to the door. Ben felt a soft growl rising in his throat.

 

"Rey Kenobi?"

 

He saw her eyes glance back at him, and rose to his feet in a smooth motion, gratified to see the man shrink back a bit when he noticed him.

 

"Yes?"

 

The man was looking at Ben now, staring at what he must assume was a large protective dog, and his voice was halting ad stuttering as he spoke. "Ugh... Delivery. For you. Sign he.. here."

 

Rey rolled her eyes and Ben sat down, smugly satisfied as she signed the handheld computer and took the manila envelope, the man nearly stumbling as he backed down the hall. Rey shut the door and looked at the package. "What is this?"

 

_ "Open it."  _ He stood, moving closer and peering at the package.

 

She sighed, bumping him with her thigh to get him out of her way. He grunted, moving out of the way.  _ "Open it, Rey." _

 

Rolling her eyes, she sat down on the couch and he leaped up beside her, only for her to turn away. "Stop crowding me, Kylo, jeez."

 

He sighed, nose tilting into the air,  _ "I am accustomed to getting what I want, Rey. You will learn." _

 

Rey snorted and he found himself surprised when she spoke. "No."

 

Blinking in shock, he stared at her. Her face was serene, unruffled, and the envelope was casually held across her knee, making no move t open it.  _ "What?" _

 

"No. You need to learn to be nice." Rey scooted slightly away from him rather than try to unsuccessfully push him away again. "You are not the boss of me, Kylo."

 

Ben closed his eyes, and if he had been in human form, he probably would have been opening and closing his mouth as he tried to formulate a response.  _ "You... I am paying you, so I AM your boss." _

 

Rey snorted, pushing to her feet and tucking the unopened package under her arm. "Actually, Hux is the one paying me, and I haven't been paid yet." She grabbed her keys off the small table by the door. "And you are a dog. So you had better be nice, or I'll take you back to the pound."

 

He narrowed his eyes, getting to his feet and following her slowly.  _ "Where do you think you are going?" _

 

"I'm going to open this over at Finn and Poe's apartment." She grinned, slipping out the door and shutting it with a slam just as he lunged with a growl. He could hear her as she spoke through the barrier. "That should give you time to think about how this trip is going to go, and how you need to start treating people with respect."

 

Growling, he could feel her getting further away. It was an odd sensation.  _ "How DARE YOU?!" _ And heard her laugh in the hall before he was left alone in the apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so yet again, I've got two fics going at once. I hate myself and I'm sorry, but I hate making you guys wait just because I'm working on something else, and then not giving you the something else. And this story is going more in the vein of short snippets, and I know that sucks, so I'll try to combine the as I can.
> 
> I legit love comments, please tell me anything and everything. I read every single one and they make me so happy.


	7. Werewolf mafia royalty?

 

When Finn opened the door, he was surprised to see Rey. She usually texted when she was coming over, because she had learned that interrupting Poe and Finn was not a great idea if she didn’t want to see them naked.

  
  


“Hi Finn, can I come in?”

  
  


He blinked. “Um, yeah, sure. What’s up?” Casually, he checked behind her and around her legs to see if the dog was with her as she walked in, then shut the door behind her. “Poe’s making lunch.”

  
  


Rey sighed, and after years of knowing her, Finn knew a flood of information was coming. And he was right.

  
  


“So, Kylo is being a jerk, and I just wanted some space from him before I’m trapped in a car with him for who knows how long. Also I need to tell Poe I won’t be bringing any supplies around for a while, but I hope to be back within a month. And I couldn’t leave without telling you, because I knew you would freak out.” She spoke as she flopped onto the couch, smiling up at him and finishing just as Poe peaked his head out of the kitchen.

  
  


“What is going on?” He wiped hs hands on his jeans and strolled over with the loose limbed, cocky sway to his hips that had first drawn Finn’s attention, then settled on the couch on the other side of him.

  
  


Finn just waved him off, gaping at Rey. “Stop, what?! Who is Kylo and where are you going and WHAT?!”

  
  


Rey blinked at him. “Oh, I forgot I didn’t tell you. It's been a little crazy.” Brushing her hair out of her face, She grinned. “You better come in here, Poe.”

  
  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  
  


“So, your dog is a werewolf and you have to drive him across the country to get help from his pack, that he is the alpha of, to break the evil curse that makes him a dog?” Finn stared at Rey, his eyes wide and unblinking, as if he was hoping it was a hallucination and if he stared long enough, reality would set in.

  
  


“Yes.” Rey’s face was serious, and although Poe believed her, he couldn’t believe her. Finn was still stuck on the werewolf thing, when they had first met, witches and warlocks had taken a while for him to process.

  
  


“Your life is like a bad telenovela.” Finn groaned, his head dropping into his hands. “How do you get into these situations?!” Poe reached over his back, rubbing his palm between his shoulder blades.

  
  


“Don’t even! This is your fault.” Rey glared at Finn. “If you hadn’t dragged me to the shelter, this never would have happened.”

  
  


Finn sighed and for a long moment, sat with his chin in his hand just staring at her. Then, with a bracing breath, he straightened up in his seat and motioned to the package with a resigned expression. “So, what is that?”

  
  


Rey glanced down, and picked up off her lap. “Oh, I don’t know. Kylo was being a jerk about opening it.”

  
  


Without a word, Poe pulled out his pocket knife and handed it over, and watched her slit the package. Even knowing what he knew about werewolves and the paranormal community, he was shocked by the stack of cash, fancy cell phone, and expensive looking key fob that fell out into her hands.

  
  


Rey’s voice was a mix of shocked and reverent, hushed as she stared wide eyed at first the money then up at the two men. “What the fuck?”

  
  


Poe glanced at Finn out of the corner of his eye. “Um, Rey, I know you are new to being a witch but… Um...” His mouth grimaced and he made a soft hissing sound, “Werewolves are the worst. They are the royalty of the paranormal world, and they don’t get along with anyone, especially magic users.”

  
  


“Oh, yeah," Rey nodded. “But I’m not going to act like… I dunno, like I worship him. That would be crazy because he’s a dog, and I wouldn’t act like that even if he was human.”

  
  


Poe shook his head. Finn met his eyes curiously, his expression pinched and begging for Poe to explain. He’d never seen him so flustered and worried. “No, Rey, you don’t get it. Just wash your hands of this, okay? You don’t want to get caught in the middle of a warlock and werewolf feud, I promise.”

  
  


Rey’s mouth quirked to the side, and Finn got the impression she didn’t understand. For all that Rey was very street smart in some ways, she was also very naive and didn’t always understand subtext. “I think Poe is trying to say that you could get hurt getting involved in this.”

  
  


Before Finn even finished speaking, Poe was nodding. “Exactly, yes.” Poe reached out to grip Rey’s hand in her lap, gently squeezing it. “Rey, any feud with werewolves is bound to get violent, trust me. What if they turn on you because you are a witch? You will be all alone, across the country- we won’t be able to help you!”

 

Rey scoffed, and stood up. "I'll be fine. I've got this under control." She grinned, then hugged them both. "I'll let you get back to your evening. I've got to go talk to Kylo."

 


	8. A witch and a werewolf go on a road trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Kylo come to an agreement?

 

Ben was not a patient person in the best of circumstances, so when Rey left him the way she did, he didn’t handle it well.

 

Now that he had calmed down, looking at the mess he had made was… embarrassing. A dog could do a lot of damage and a wolf could do even more. He had used his teeth to tear holes in her couch and spread stuffing around the room, used his nails to scratch and claw at the door and walls leaving deep gouges in the poor quality wood and paint, and he was big enough to knock over a few lamps and a bookcase.

 

So when he heard her key in the lock, his first thought was  _ ‘Fuck.’ _ And of course she heard it, judging by the pause of the door as it started to swing open, followed by her voice in his head.  _ ‘Oh god, now what?’ _

 

Though typically shameless, and he firmly believed Rey had been in the wrong and he was the victim, he couldn’t help the way his ears folded back when he saw her eyes find all that he had done.

 

“Seriously?”

 

He huffed a sigh and then sat up straight, putting his nose in the air.  _ ‘You should have obeyed me.’ _

 

Rey rolled her eyes and moved toward the couch by habit, but then stood there with a confused expression because there was no place to actually sit. “Okay, first of all, I don’t have to obey anyone, especially not dog.”

 

He snorted.  _ ‘You know I am not-’ _

 

“I wasn’t finished!” Rey glared at him over the interruption, and flopped her bag down on the counter instead of the coffee table which was precariously perched on it’s side. “Until I help you get back you your pack, you  **are** a dog, so get used to it. Second of all, me doing something you don’t like is not a reason to  **destroy** my apartment.”

 

Ben sniffed, tossing his head and refusing to make eye contact.  _ ‘It was a crappy couch anyway. I did you a favor, and now you can buy a better one.’ _

 

Rey just blinked at him, then a look crossed her face that was a mix of murderous and incredulous. “You know what? FINE! I’ll just call Hux, he’ll send me some drugs and I’ll ship your ass in a crate!” She pulled the phone out of the bag and shook it at him threateningly.

 

_ ‘Let’s not be drastic. It’s just a couch-’  _ Ben’s tone was cajoling, like an adult trying to convince a child of something, but it only seemed to make her more angry.

 

“No! You don’t get to reason with me like I’m the crazy one.” Rey was breathing hard and looked like she wanted to throw the phone at him. “I bought that couch, and cleaned it, and reupholstered it myself.” Tossing the phone on the counter, restraining herself, she looked away, rubbing her hands through her hair as she stared up at the ceiling. “Finn and Poe are right. I can’t get involved with this crap.”

 

_ ‘What do you mean?’ _

 

Rey glared at him. “This werewolf crap. Poe says you guys are like royalty and the mafia rolled into one. I don’t need this kind of drama, Kylo. I just found out I’m a witch.”

 

Ben secretly thought she was more than a witch, possibly Fae based on what he had seen but with his dulled senses and magic he couldn’t tell for sure, but he couldn’t really bring it up right now. Instead he padded closer on his big paws. She had picked up the phone and was dialing when he nudged her leg.  _ ‘I’ll… I’ll stop destroying things.’ _

 

Looking down at him, she sighed. “It’s not just the couch, Kylo. You act like I’m your servant. I got a package in the mail with a car key and a stack of cash. I can’t deal with this...”

 

He sighed with a huff.  _ ‘I’ll be…’ _ He paused, inwardly rolling his eyes. Ben did not want to wake up in a crate or have Hux open a crate and find him hungry, weak, and covered in his own filth. The redhead was already going to mock him for this without adding insult to injury. He could deal with a somewhat annoying young witch to avoid that fate.  _ ‘I’ll be nice to you. I promise.’ _ But he couldn’t stop the scoff that came next.  _ ‘And it’s just money, You’ll be fine.’ _

 

Rey rolled her eyes, looking down at him for a long moment. “You, you won’t act like a complete ass?”

 

He nodded.  _ ‘I will do my best to be half an ass or less, if you give me time to adjust to my... status.’ _

 

Her smile was bright and he would never admit that he liked when her hand set the phone aside and scratched through his fur.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

After setting up the new phone, which cost more than her rent, and picking up the car, a brand new van with all the features and the back seats all folded down, Rey had called her friends telling them she was leaving. She and Kylo, mostly her, packed the van with a bunch of blankets and pillows, her duffle bag of clothes and toiletries, a stack of new DVDs for the player in the back, and an ice-chest with groceries for the both of them.

 

Loading him in the back of the van, he proceeded to lay down on the comfy makeshift bed and watch as she adjusted the mirrors and the seat. She started the van, loaded a sci-fi movie into the player mounted in the ceiling, then strapped herself in.

 

Rey couldn’t help the odd out of body feeling every time she thought about it. She was taking a werewolf on a road trip. What the fuck was her life becoming?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, hopefully, with this out of the way we can start the road trip and get on to all the fun little snapshots I have planned. I mentioned it on my other story "Flight of Angels" but again, I'm really sorry it has suddenly started taking so long to make chapters. We've been trying to buy a house, lost the bid on the one we wanted, and I've been working crazy hours so I'm just dead and despondent most of the time. Although I wouldn't be posting while moving in, I would have my own office which would increase my posting, so cross your fingers for me?


	9. A string of fate, a ball of twine

What Rey hadn’t told Kylo was that she had her own agenda for this road trip. She had never been out of state, never traveled, never had a nice car, and had definitely never had a couple thousand dollars to spend freely. So she was going to take full advantage of it, and if anyone gave her crap, she would say it was her payment for dealing with Kylo. The world’s most emo wolf.

 

First on the list? The world’s largest ball of twine.

 

When they pulled into the parking lot, Kylo lifted his head from where he had been dozing and his voice came into her head with a mix of confusion and sleepiness.  _ ‘Why are we stopping?’ _

 

Rey grinned brightly at him using the rearview mirror. “Well, I have to pee, so I thought we might as well stretch our legs.”

 

The look he gave her held a hint of suspicion, as if he didn’t quite believe her, but when she opened the door for him, he climbed out with a loose limbed grace and shook his fur. When he looked up at the sign she could feel his disdain.  _ ‘Seriously?’ _

 

She laughed, sliding the van door shut before he could turn around and get back in. “Yes. It’s outside so you can come too.” Walking happily to the ticket booth, Kylo following with a sullen posture, Rey bought one ticket and then strode over to the tent.

 

No one said anything about the big black dog following her, so when she looked back to check that he was there, he was staring up at her.  _ ‘We didn’t stop for you to use the bathroom did we?’ _

 

She grinned. “Nope!”

 

He rolled his eyes when an older lady gave Rey a funny look.  _ ‘Use your head voice, not your real voice.’ _

 

Rey grimaced, looking around apologetically, but for the most part no one was paying much attention to her or the wolf at her side, which she found odd. She wouldn’t have been able to ignore him if she saw a giant black dog with some chick.

 

_ “It’s part of the curse. It slightly deflects notice. Makes me look… normal or ordinary, I suppose.” _ Kylo’s paws padded softly, following at her hip.

 

Though Rey glanced down and could see him roll his eyes, the odd things was that she could feel his exasperation. She had to concentrate to use her internal voice instead of her real words, but she managed to send him thoughts.  _ “How do you know what I’m thinking? I have to try so hard to send you thoughts.” _

 

His shoulders rolled in an approximation of a shrug, his head sweeping side to side as he looked around with disinterest at the people walking around the roped off ball of twine.  _ “It’s strange that you struggle with mental speech; with as easily as you broadcast your thoughts when you are not paying attention, speaking to me should be just as easy.” _

 

Rey had the feeling that he was both annoyed and fascinated by her abilities. Honestly, she felt much the same, though she was more confused than fascinated. There had been times when she had blown away Poe (and a few of the other witches and warlocks she had met) with her power, but most of the times she was frequently frustrated and thwarted by spells that should have been easy and simple.

 

She sighed, her shoulders hunching before dropping back into place.  _ “If you figure it out, let me know.” _

 

His long snout turned up to look at her curiously, but he didn’t say anything else, just huffed a soft breath and went back to stalking along behind her as she ‘oohed’ and ‘ahhed’ over the signs with facts about the ball. She even took pictures with her new cellphone, amazed over the clarity and sending smiling selfies to her friends.

 

Kylo looked on with mostly boredom, and when they returned to the van, he imperiously ordered her to pee before they left so they didn’t have to stop again that day.

 

Rey rolled her eyes, but went inside to use the restroom. But that didn’t stop her from stopping the van whenever she felt like it, much to Kylo’s displeasure.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Rey stared up at the hotel the GPS had guided her to. There was no way this was right. “Kylo, wake up.” She heard him grumbling through the mental bond, before his big head appeared between the two front seats. “They aren't going to let you in. This place doesn’t allow dogs.”

 

He yawned.  _ “They will allow me.” _

 

“Ugh, no... no they won’t. There is no way this place allows animals.” She shook her head, knowing without talking to anyone or seeing a sign.

 

He sighed heavily, in that way she was becoming used to, and just urged her to drive the van up to the valet line and get out of the van.

 

The way the valet’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head confirmed her suspicions, but he took the keys anyway as the bellhop unloaded the few bags they had. The doorman smiled at first, but then sort of physically stuttered as he reached for the door. The curse made Kylo look like a typical dog, but dogs were obviously not allowed here.

 

“Miss… Please wait here.” The doorman’s smile was strained now, and he whispered to the bellhop, who left their bags on a trolly and hurried inside. Rey could see through the glass and gold doors that he immediately went to the front desk, leaning over it to speak to the desk attendant. The desk attendant looked at the doors, then left, returning with an older man in a suit.

 

Rey swallowed tightly, trying to look natural, as if she belonged here, but failing miserably. She could feel nervous sweat forming on her upper lip and under the strap of her bra.

 

Kylo sat next to her as if this was nothing at all.  _ “Relax.” _ As if they weren't about to get kicked out before they even walked in. It was a new low for Rey; she’d been kicked out of places before, but usually she got past the front doors first.

 

“Miss, can I help you?” The man gave her the insincere greeting, his mouth barely moving as he gave the smallest smile she had ever seen, as he spoke with a vague accent she couldn’t place. He was clearly ready to reject her.

 

“Yes, I’m so sorry. This was the hotel-” Rey started to apologize for disrupting them and took a half step back, but Kylo immediately shoved his big shoulder against her thigh. 

 

She looked down at him mid sentence, glaring at him, but he interrupted her.  _ “Don’t apologize.Tell them you have a reservation, under the name Armitage Hux.” _

 

Conflicted, certain it would have no effect and she would just embarrass herself, she sighed. “I have a reservation? Armitage Hux?” 

 

Her voice was smaller than she would have liked, so incredibly out of her element she felt nearly timid, which she never was. Put her in a dark alley, in a mechanics shop, walking home at midnight, or any number of situations where she could hold her own physically and she could easily be confident. In the presence of wealth and class, having to move among them as if she belonged? That was nerve racking.

 

But those simple words transformed the manager. “AH! Of course, of course, come right in Mrs. Hux. Your husband called ahead and arranged everything.” He snapped his fingers with the same air of superiority that Kylo exuded, and everyone jumped. “Get Mrs. Hux’s bags up to the presidential suite.”

 

He slid over to her, with barely a glance at Kylo now, and took her elbow to escort her in side. “Your husband has asked that you and your pet be placed in the top floor penthouse, and he has also asked that you receive the premium spa package.”

 

He led her through the gleaming lobby, up through the ostentatious gold elevator, and down a ridiculously lavash hall way before opening a set of double doors and presenting the suite like the amazing palace that it was.

 

After more obnoxious fawning over her than she had ever imagined possible, the manager, the bellhop, and the slew of other people who had at some point joined the entourage finally left her and Kylo alone.

 

“What the hell just happened?!”

 

Kylo snorted, jumping onto a couch that probably cost more than a years tuition at an ivy league college, and gave her doggy grin.  _ “That is what money does. You are welcome.” _  Then he promptly commanded her to turn on the TV and order room service,  _ “Then you will to go to the spa and leave me alone for a few hours.” _

 

“Excuse you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I've been gone so long, real life happened, but I should be back to a regular ish schedule. Wish me luck, lol.


	10. Who is this dream boat?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo learns to change, or at least try to change for self serving reasons.  
> Rey meets Ben for the first time.  
> Sparks appear.

Kylo stared at Rey in confusion. Women liked the spa. He had no real idea what happened in the strange and magical women’s area(beyond what he heard his mother say and what was shown in movies), but he knew they liked it, it was expensive, and his mother always came back much happier when his father sent her to the spa after an argument or stressful day. So it couldn’t be that.

 

So that left something he had done. Thinking quickly and reviewing their time together so far, she either didn’t like his tone or the fact that he was bossing her around. No woman, werewolf or human, had ever reacted to his commanding tone the way Rey did and he was learning Rey didn’t like being told what to do even if it was something she was fine with. Kylo might be a spoiled alpha prince, but he was also smart and adaptable. So he tilted his head and tried something new.

 

She stood, in a way that- if she had been a werewolf- he would have taken as a challenge. Arms crossed over her chest, body stiff and hips tilted, legs splayed slightly, her face canted to the side, eyebrows up.

 

In response, he did something he would never do with another werewolf. He padded off the couch, and sat in front of her, looking up and doing his best to keep any aggression or irritation out of his body language and voice. _“I appear to have upset you. Let me rephrase.”_ He wasn’t submissive, he wasn’t capable of that, but he was definitely trying to be more agreeable.

 

Her eyes narrowed, watching him suspiciously, but she nodded. Kylo didn’t know her background, but something or someone had taught her an un-yeilding self-worth that was somehow strong but not overbearing, still soft and willing to listen but ready to cut him down. If she had been one of his people, he would have thought her a leader.

 

Sighing softly, he held himself steady, similar to the way he had seen his father talk to his mother when things were tense. _“After a long day driving with me, spending time at the spa, that Hux already paid for, might be…”_ He paused, letting the right words come to him, _“Relaxing. You might like the time away from me, as we are not friends and you do not enjoy my company. If you choose to leave, it would be helpful to me if there was food and entertainment.”_

 

Rey watched him, her expression changing in tiny ways he couldn’t have put words to, before she nodded, her arms relaxing down to her sides. “Why can’t you say it like that the first time? Alright… But only because it’s already paid for.” She held up her finger at him, as if to say she was doing it for him and her tone indicating she wasn’t going to enjoy it.

 

Kylo kept his smirk to himself. _“Of course.”_ He was pleased. Learning to handle Rey was a process, but he was getting the hang of it. Soon she would be eating out of his hand. Or… paw. Whatever.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

After they both calmed down a bit, she ordered some food for him, put on the tv, the two of them found something that he could watch for a few hours, and she opened one of the doors to the balcony so he could go out if he wanted.

 

She was waiting for room service to deliver Kylo’s food before leaving, and was going over the spa catalogue, quizzing him about the treatments. She had never heard of some of these things and couldn’t understand why someone would pay for it.

 

“What is a Rainbow Rain Massage? Like, I understand what a massage is but, what is rainbow rain?”

 

Glancing over at her, he yawned. She had already asked him about gold facials, mud baths, hair masks, and sweat bath stretching. He only knew the basics of most of them(facials did stuff to your face, baths dunked you in stuff, and manicures and pedicures did things to your nails),  but he was nearly as clueless as she was about any details. _“I don’t know, Rey, but I’m sure the spa can walk you through whatever you want.”_

 

She quirked her lips just as there was a knock at the door. She slid off the couch and he watched as she let the room service attendant roll in the cart, revealing the food before leaving. Rey arranged things for him on the coffee table, and he restrained himself from reminding her that she could have had the attendant do that.

 

When she was done, she sat a little closer to him that he would have expected, reaching out to scratch at the thick ruff of fur on his neck and his skin prickled with pleasure he would never admit to. “Ok, I’m going to go try the spa thing, give you some alone time.”

 

He nodded, already turning his attention back to the tv, expecting her to get up, which was why he missed clues of what she was about to do. Before he knew what happened, an electric shock slithered under his fur when she planted a soft kiss on the flat plane of his skull right above his eyes. “We can be friends if you want…”

 

Kylo was so shocked, he only stared at her, his mind white-blank as he blinked at her tiny wave and then the door closing behind her.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Kylo spent the next 3 hours eating the food she had left, steak and a few other delicious things, watching the latest season of Stranger Things, and thinking about Rey. He had never met anyone like her. She was a mix of traits that, individually he had met and understood, but combined into a strange and new creature that he wanted to study and learn.

 

Rey spent the time confused and skeptical of the treatments. She found out that ‘her husband’ had instructed the staff to give her anything she wanted. Which meant they tried to push the most expensive treatments. She declined the gold facial, the caviar massage, and the fish foot treatment. But she tried a hot stone massage, a multicolored clay facial and massage, and happily soaked in a herb infused bath while a manicurist did a bunch of stuff that Rey couldn’t have named. The only part she understood was the nail polish. Then while getting her normal pedicure, the Spa ordered her dinner from the in house restaurants. She tried sushi for the first time, since anything else would have been hard to eat while they worked on her feet. Some of it was good, and some of it was gross, but it was fun to try.

 

When she got back to the hotel room, she had never felt so soft, and relaxed, and absolutely stuffed. She never thought of sushi as filling, but apparently it was. The two of them settled in for the night without much talking, and nothing mentioned about what had happened right before she left.

 

As she fell asleep, Rey thought she might like to have a real dog when Kylo was gone. It was kinda nice having him around even if he was not a dog and was a bit of a spoiled jerk.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Rey was dreaming. She knew it in that idle way that people knew. She was in an empty place. She couldn’t call it a room. But it was some sort of… place. It felt like it had a ceiling and walls even if she couldn’t see them, everything was kind of grey around the edges, expanding and moving away from her as she tried to look closer.

 

She wasn’t alone, and oddly, that wasn't frightening.

 

There was a man with his back to her. He was tall, impossibly tall, with broad thick shoulders and a back that tapered to slim hips and long legs. His hair was longer than most men, dark, and it fell around his head in a pleasing shape. When he turned around, his expression was confused, clearly as lost as she was. His eyes were dark, his face pale and speckled with beauty marks, his features sharp and masculine, just a hair too big on his head, but somehow attractive.

 

When he saw her, some of the confusion faded from his expression and he tilted his head in an oddly familiar way. “Rey?”

 

She blinked, her back going stiff. “Who are you?”

 

The confused expression deeped the crease between his eyes and his face tightened. “What are you tal-” In the middle of his sentence he glanced down at himself and stopped. Then he smiled. Then laughed.

 

Rey peered at him, her body tilting as she tried to get closer without actually getting closer to him. “Who are you?”

 

“Ugh…” He chuckled. “Ben.”

 

Her brows dropped and her eyes narrowed at him. “And how do you know who I am. I’ve never seen you before.”

 

He shrugged then looked around. “It’s… This is your dream, right? Shouldn’t I know who you are in your dream?”

 

Something about what he said tickled the back of her mind but she was unconcerned by the feeling. “Wow… Go me. I didn’t know I had this kind of imagination. You’re hot.”

 

His eyes went wide and a bark of laughter shot out of him, his eyes crinkling as his head tilted down, dark hair falling over his forehead before he tossed it back to look at her again.

 

Ben smirked. When he first looked down and saw his human body, he had been surprised. Somehow he and Rey were sharing a dream and he was in his human body instead of his dog illusion or his wolf form. Without really knowing why, when she asked, he gave her his human name- his _real_ name that gave her power over him- without a second thought.

 

“Back at you.”

 

He was surprised to realize he wasn’t lying. When he was in his wolf form, he could recognize that she was attractive, but in his human body he was _attracted to_ her. Ben was not a virgin or shy of women, but he was very selective. He had turned down all manner of attractive women, left cold and bored by women that would have typical men panting. At 36 he still hadn’t taken a mate, which was late for a werewolf, very late as his mother frequently reminded him. Rey was cute, but she wasn’t exactly pin-up material or a werewolf princess. She was kinda scrawny, small chested and without much to grab on her hips and bottom, shorter than he liked, with average features. Unremarkable.

 

Despite that, he found himself gravitating closer to her. His instincts wanted to dip his head to the nape of her neck and catch her scent, wanted to touch her skin and have his hands learn her shape. His skin _itched_ to rub his scent over her, his teeth _aching_ to pin her and cover her in his marks.

 

Without conscious thought, he heard his voice. “How old are you?”

 

Now she laughed, sounding surprised. “It’s my dream, shouldn’t you know?”

 

He rolled his eyes, stalking closer, with a huff of breath. “I should probably make sure I’m _allowed_ to think you are hot, even in a dream.” His voice had a higher tone than usual, a smile playing across his face as his body moved around her, loose limbed and relaxed. Playful.

 

She turned with him, keeping him in sight, as her eyebrows kicked up and her mouth twisted into a soft smile, just as teasing as his. “Why don’t you tell me how old you are, and I’ll tell you if you are in my date-able range.” Rey winked, starting to follow the instinctive movements he was making, as if in a dance. Keeping the distance between them, every time he would step forward she would step back, and everytime he stepped back she would follow, turning her body to mirror his.

 

His dark brows rose, and his tone turned questioning. “Date-able range?”

 

“Yea, you know, your age divided by 2 and plus 7 is the youngest you can date, and your age minus 7 and times 2 is the oldest you can date.” Rey reached up shifting her hair over her shoulder and watched as his eyes sharpened. This was a strange dream, somehow realistic but still abstract and intangible. She knew without checking that the two of them were the only solid things in this place; if they touched they would feel each other, but if they touched anything else it would all would fade away like smoke and shadows.

 

His face turned towards her, his eyes peering into her as if he could read her mind, his voice soft and deep. “And what is your range, Rey?”

 

She blinked, swallowing the shiver the tingled along her skin. “Um… 36 to 19… 19 and a half if you want to be.... precise” Her voice was halting, not hesitant, but somehow unable to think when he looked at her like that and spoke with that voice.

 

“Mmmm… Precision helps.” He stepped closer, too quickly for her to back away, and his elbow brushed her arm as he slipped behind her. What she didn’t know, was that Ben was a math wiz from an early age and a business degree only made him better. “So you are 25, and I am in your range. Good to know.” The very top of her range, but still acceptable.

 

Ben didn’t know why he was flirting with her, but he liked it. It was fun. So he leaned in, bumping her with his body again. Bumping was not unusual for humans as a flirting tactic but it was used sparingly and usually with familiar individuals. Werewolves on the other hand, used physical touch far more generously in their courtship rituals and didn’t hesitate to test interest of others with a physical touch. If a female snapped and growled at a shoulder bump, she wasn’t interested.

 

But if she ignored the touch, or touched back….

 

Rey glared at him as she crossed her arms and muttered about jerks that are good at math, clearly not upset at the touch but rather how quickly he had worked out her age. He grinned, his upper arm brushing her shoulder as he looked at the side of her face. Something in his chest was warm and pleased that she wasn’t rejecting his touch, but he would think about that another time. “36…” One long finger brushed a strand of hair off her collar bone. “Since you were wondering.”

 

She didn’t pull away, instead looking up at him with a curiosity that showed no sign of fear or awe. She was interested in him, not his position or his family, and she wasn’t afraid of his power. Here in this dream world, all artifice and superficiality was stripped away.

 

“It’s just us now…” His hand moved, as if pulled by a puppet string, his fingers and palms curving, reaching to cup her face. She could see what he was doing, he wasn’t hiding it, and she didn’t pull away.

 

_**IF YOU LIKE PINA COLADAS**  _

 

Kylo jolted awake from the queen bed he had been sleeping in, forcefully shoved out of the dream world and back into his cursed form, and he could faintly hear the rest of the tune coming from Rey’s room. He phone alarm. It was morning.

 

_And getting caught in the rain…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry it's been a while, but you know, real life. Anyway, if you follow my other story 'Flight of Angels' this will be a similar note to that one.  
> We are moved in to the new house, though there seems to be never ending unpacking going on at the moment. I'm elasta-girl at the moment- "Why do we have so much junk?" I wish I could say I was back to a minimum of once a week posting, but I don't want to make promises I can't keep. Still unpacking and catching up on work, plus my office is right next to my baby's room and I'm a moron with a mechanical keyboard that is loud as hell. We are working it out. But I promise I am still working on this, even if it is just a few sentences a day from my phone.
> 
> I'm also a moron who can't stop adding to my 'ideas' document, so once I get back into routine, there will be a metric shit ton of Reylo stories coming. Be ready. Winter is coming.


	11. It wouldn't be proper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Movie night in a van?

** _If you like making love at midnight..._ **

 

Kylo could not get that cursed song out of his head. It didn’t help that they had lost data reception a few hours ago and it only came back for a few minutes when they passed through the few small towns on the long empty highway. So, they were stuck listening to whatever Rey had downloaded on her phone, which wasn’t much since it was brand new. The repetition was killing him slowly, his brain bleeding out through his ears. He couldn’t even sleep through it.

 

_“Would you turn off that infernal music?!”_

 

Rey glanced at him in the rearview mirror as he half stood, then flopped over to his other side with a throaty sigh. She just shrugged and turned it down, but not off, her attention going back to the road.

 

He knew he was being unreasonable and gruff. But he hated that song for interrupting their shared dream. He had barely spoken all morning, that dream stuck in his head, while Rey had continued on as if it meant nothing. He shifted, his eyes flicking over her as his thoughts turned sullen. _“Not like I care…”_

 

Rey turned her head now, looking over her shoulder at him. “Not that you care, what?”

 

Kylo only glared at her, before turning away.

 

Rey sighed, “Alright, what has your fur in a wedgie?”

 

Kylo flicked his ear in annoyance, his fur was not in a wedgie and he was offended by her crude idiom, but refused to acknowledge her any more than that.

 

Rey stared at the big slab of werewolf and rolled her eyes, already planning her next diversion, despite knowing that with Kylo was already in a bad mood, and he would probably protest the activity more than usual. After yesterday she had thought they were making progress but, no. Today, he woke up grouchier and touchier than ever.

 

Shaking her head but staying silent, she guided the van down the road, watching the black pavement disappear under the tires and keep going into the distance, rolling by sand dunes that were more desert than beach, under a light blue sky that was already turning towards autumn.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

_“A drive-in movie?”_

 

Rey grinned, ignoring the irritation in his tone and avoiding his glare. “Yeh, I’ve never been to one!” Biting her lip, she followed the signs boasting ‘the last great american movie experience’ and ‘the only drive-in on the west coast’. There was an attendant, and she rolled down her window to pay. The teen looked at her, peered into the back of the van and grinned as she counted the change and waved her through. “Nice dog.”

 

Rey returned the smile and tilted her head back at Kylo. “Thanks!” She could hear Kylo grumbling, both physically and in the back of her mind, but it was only an indication of his displeasure, rather than actual words. She continued to ignore him as she was directed to the parking spot by another teen, and she stuck her head out the window to ask if she could back in. The kid nodded, and she happily positioned the vehicle with the back hatch facing the big screen.

 

Before opening to door though, she turned and met Kylo’s eyes for the first time in a few hours. “You will behave?”

 

He hesitated, but sighed and nodded his big furry head. Even though he wasn’t looking at her, she smiled, reaching out to ruffle the long fur between his ears. “Thank you.” He met her eyes, his chest expanded, and he promptly blew a hot breath from his nose across her face.

 

“Ewww…” Rey wiped her face, groaning in disgust, “Really, Kylo?.. Jerk…”

 

He watched her as she opened the back, and resettled the blankets so she could lay and watch the screen. As the movie went on, some boring human drama, he watched her eyes slowly droop lower, her body going more relaxed as her breathing evened and deepened. She was in that hazy place where she was aware but not fully awake and not fully asleep.

 

Shifting his weight, he nudged her shoulder. _“Wake up. The movie is ending and you need to drive.”_

 

“I’m awake…” She muttered, the words slow and drawling, as her eyes fluttered lazily. She rolled onto her side, then sat up sluggishly.

 

 _“Mmhmm. Sure you are.”_ Kylo made sure to send her the impression of him rolling his eyes, and added, _“We should stop and get coffee before you start driving.”_

 

Rey scrunched her nose. “No.. No, I’ll be fine. If I drink coffee, I’ll be tossing and turning all night when we get to the hotel.” She yawned, stretched, and started easing herself out the back of the van and moving to the driver’s seat. “I’ve pulled all nighters before. I’ve got this.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

She did _not_ have this.

 

Rey groaned, and hated that she had to admit defeat to Kylo. “I’ve got to stop.”

 

He snorted. _“It’s about time. I’ve been telling you the same for the past thirty minutes.”_

 

“Why do you have to be an ass?” Pulling the van to and exit, and then a dirt road off the highway that was partially hidden by large bushes, she put the van into park and groaned. “I’m doing all the work on this stupid trip. You could try being grateful.”

 

Kylo wisely kept his mental mouth shut, watching as she locked the doors and cracked the windows, before she slithered her slim form between the seats and pushed at him. “Scoot over.”

 

As her body curled into the nest of blankets and pillows that had been his den for the past few days, he stared at her, _“You are sleeping here?”_ She didn’t say anything, only nodding, eyes already closed. _“Where will I sleep?”_

 

She half shrugged, pulling a blanket over her and punching a pillow into a shape she liked. “Here…”

 

 _“I… you can’t- WE cannot sleep together.”_ His mental voice dropped into what she usually thought of as his grumble or whisper, low volume and low pitched, but this time with a hint of scandalized shock laced through it. _“It wouldn’t be proper!”_

 

Despite being nearly asleep, Rey laughed softly. “You are a literal dog.” She snorted and Kylo’s ears flicked, annoyed that he _wasn’t_ annoyed by the sound, annoyed that he sort of found it cute.  “What’s going to happen? Besides, you’ve slept in my bed before...”

 

 _That is different, that was before the bond… before I almost-_ His ears flicked back and he cut off his mental thoughts before she heard them. He didn’t really have a response that would make any sense, but something in him found it wrong to be sleeping with her like this. Sleeping next to her in his wolf form felt dirty after the dream they had shared. Another part of him was irritated that she was sleeping in the back of the van at all, when she should be sleeping warm and safe in a bed, but he wrote that off as not wanting her invading his space. It was not some weird protective instinct. It wasn’t.

 

He hesitated, trying to curl up against the side of the van so that he wasn’t touching her, and wasn't sure he wanted to fall asleep. He could stay up all  night and make sure they didn’t touch, and then sleep all day tomorrow while she drove. There would be no cuddling. He could do this.

 

It took less than an hour for Kylo’s eyes to slide shut as he sank into sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys… You guys, someone made me fanart! @picarito made these four panels and they are so great! Here is the link, and if they give me permission ( Hey Picarito, can I put your pics in one of my chapters?), I will post them in one of the chapters. I squeed so loud my husband and my kid thought something was wrong with me. http://picarito.tumblr.com/post/176883795307/doodles-based-on-real-and-rare-and-magic-by
> 
> I also found out that a couple of my stories are on lists out there on Tumblr too, so whoever is doing that, thank you so much! You guys are the best, and now I feel all fancy!


	12. Closer on the Beach

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am the WORST author, and I am so sorry to make you guys wait so long for this update. I know you are looking at me as I post, and update, and finish other things and this is just sitting waiting for some love.
> 
> So I had all these grand plans for this, and it just wasn’t coming together, so I had to make a choice: 1, I could continue to sit on this and make you wait for an update as I try and struggle past the scenes that are not working. Or 2, I could sort of, skim over the troublesome scenes and get to the stuff I’ve been dying to write or have already written.
> 
> I went with choice 2. You guys deserve updates for being so patient, and I really really want to get to the good stuff and finish this. So, if there are a few sparse or bare scenes, that is why. Once I’m done I might come back and fill them out, but in all likelihood, those will stay as they are.

So I told you guys that Picarito (aka Queso_ren and Kermit Ren) made some awesome art for this fic way back in August, and I asked for permission to post it, so here you go!

 

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/kathleengumballtiger/33064671998/in/dateposted-public/)

 

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/kathleengumballtiger/46887905932/in/dateposted-public/)

 

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/kathleengumballtiger/46887905842/in/dateposted-public/)

 

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/kathleengumballtiger/31999054517/in/dateposted-public/)

 

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/kathleengumballtiger/46887905762/in/dateposted-public/)

 

Here are the links to the [twitter ](https://twitter.com/queso_ren/status/1028334810526310400)and [tumblr ](http://picarito.tumblr.com/post/176883795307/doodles-based-on-real-and-rare-and-magic-by)where you can find this fantastic artist and check out all the other stuff (lots of Reylo with other things)

 And now on to the story!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~

 

He was dreaming again, but this was just him. He didn’t feel the presence of Rey the way he had in the dream they shared before, this was more like a memory of something that hadn’t happened. It felt familiar and comfortable and perfect. He knew where he was without opening his eyes; his bedroom. But somehow, things were not the way he remembered. In this dream, something had been added to the smell of the room, it felt different and yet still like home.

 

Stretching, he pulled a warm body closer, his chest rumbling when the small female curled into him. Strange. Ben never let anyone sleep in his den with him, and yet his dream self was completely unconcerned. In fact he was more relaxed and at peace than anything else. The tip of his nose rubbed along the shell of an ear, his hands wandering in a slow exploration searching for the curious scent that tickled his brain, and he wanted to open his eyes and look at the delicious smelling creature in his arms, but he didn’t. As if his dream wasn’t ready to show him the face of the woman.

 

Soft hairs tickled his nose, and his palms followed the smooth curve of bare skin. Long thighs. Slim hips. A waist that dipped then swelled. The ripple of a ribcage and the plump flesh of a breast.

 

_ Mmmm… _ Back to the curve of her belly, his hand circled the tight skin in broad soothing motions, just as the woman made a soft sound that sent blood straight to his cock. His eyes finally opened, and he found himself looking down into the soft and sleepy face of Rey, her smile gentle. “Morning Cutie.” She yawned and rolled towards him, as if she did it every day.

 

“Morning.” Ben found himself chuckling into her hair. No one called him cute, and the simplicity of it made him return the endearment. “Sweetheart… You smell so good.”

 

She laughed, humoring him with a sort of playful tone. “You only say that because I smell like you…”

 

Ben hummed thoughtfully, sniffing at her again as she giggled, the tip of his nose tickling her neck. Sure enough, woven in with her scent, was a hint of him. Him, her, and… something other. Something he knew but couldn’t name. The same thing that had itched his brain back in her apartment.

 

“What are you doing here?” It was an odd question, considering his hands were still happily exploring, taking in every texture and the mentally measuring her with his hands so he would know her by touch.

 

She laughed, “Where else would I be?”

 

Raising an eyebrow, he gave her a sheepish smile. “In the back of a van after a drive in movie, somewhere East of a giant ball of twine?”

 

Her eyes widened and for a moment he thought he had broken the dream but then her smile turned brighter than the sun. “Aww… You were dreaming of our road trip? That’s so sweet.” Her hand cupped his jaw, and for the second time he came within a breath of her lips, and he was jolted awake by that cursed song.

 

**“** **_If you like pina coladas…”_ **

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

_ “Fucking, fuck fuck FUCK. I hate that song, Rey. I hate it.” _

 

Rey rolled over sleepily as Kylo scratched and dug through the blankets trying to find the phone and, according to his internal monologue, ‘crush it like the skulls of his enemies.’

 

“God, you are so dramatic...” Rey shifted, finding the phone in a blanket fold near her shoulder, “Why do you hate that song so much?”

 

_ “I just do.” _ He paused, panting slightly and watching as she silenced the alarm. Grunting, he sat heavily, the Van rocking slightly with his movement, and glared at her.  _ “What torture do you have planned today?” _

 

Rey laughed, sitting up and pulling a water bottle out of the front seat, reaching into her bag for her toothbrush and toothpaste. Popping the door, she sat and brushed while talking to him and consulting the map on her phone. “Well, we could go to the museum of miniatures, there is a beach along the highway near the next hotel, and there is a restaurant that says it has the biggest prawns in the state. I’ve never had a prawn.”

 

_ “It’s just a big shrimp.” _

 

“Well, I’ve never had shrimp either, so I might as well try a prawn while I have the chance. Two birds one stone and all. Do you think they will have prawns on the beach? That way I could only annoy you by stopping once.”

 

_ “Probably, but food poisoning would not be a good first time experience with Prawns.” _

 

“You have no sense of adventure.”

 

_ “Not when it comes to strange beach food. But you could eat good food at the hotel and then go to the beach, because I am not going to the miniature museum.” _

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Rey actually managed to go the museum of miniatures, with minimal protest from Kylo though he refused to go in and stayed in the van with all the windows down and a note taped to the window saying ‘Beware of Dog.’ Then after about an hour, she came back and they got on the road again. This time, Rey knew the drill and breezed into the hotel, dropping Hux’s name liberally. After unloading their things, Rey walked down to the beach, Kylo following along with the first sign of excitement she had seen from him.

 

“Do you like the beach?” Rey patted his head as they walked along the sidewalk down to the beachfront, smiling at shop owners and other tourists.

 

_ “Not particularly. There is too much sand.” _ He ducked away from her, picking up his trot so she couldn’t reach his head anymore and she laughed. _ “But it is the first chance I’ve had to run around since we started this trip.” _

 

“That is true. Should we try and stop for a run before we settle in for the night from now on? Would that make you less grumpy in the mornings? We’ve got at least four more days.” Rey watched him lope along next to her, giggling at the reaction of people they passed, and lifting her face to catch the sea breeze. It was too cold to swim so Rey had brought a blanket, and she had snuck a ball into her bag incase they needed to support Kylo’s cover. But secretly she wanted an excuse to play fetch with her werewolf.

 

So as the big black beast ran down the sand, Rey laid out her blanket and settled into it as the sand molded around her. She watched Kylo as he did a few laps up the beach and then back down, keeping her in the middle of his circuit, until he collapsed in a heap next to her on the blanket. “Did you have fun?”

 

He huffed, furry lips billowing and white teeth showing, but his tongue was lolling and he had a smirk that look almost like happiness.  _ “I was stretching my legs.” _

 

Rey rolled her eyes before rolling herself onto her stomach to look into his eyes. Her face quirked for a moment in effort, and then her mental voice filtered through his head.  _ “What are you like when you aren't, you know, a wolf-dog?” _

 

Kylo tilted his head and if he had been human it might have looked like a shrug, and spoke as he laid down facing her keeping their eye contact.  _ “I’ve been told by reputable sources that I’m a bit of a jerk.” _

 

His tone indicated she was the source in this scenario and Rey laughed, drawing a bit of notice from people. She just grinned, “Silly dog...” and brushed him off as if to remove sand and the people moved along.  _ “I thought you were more of a jerk because you were trapped as a dog. I would be. But I guess I mean… What do you do? What do you look like? What are you like?” _

 

Kylo thought for a moment, debating how much to tell her, before settling close to the truth. “I’m not sure… As the Alpha, not many people in my pack are brave enough to tell me the truth. I suppose I run the pack in a mix of the way a mayor would run a town and a patriarch would run a large family.” He huffed, looking away, past her to where the sea crashed and rolled over the shore.  _ “You would consider me very tall, but most werewolves are. I’ve never lacked for female partners, but I’m not particularly good looking. Dark hair.” _

 

Rey waited, expecting more, but he simply looked back at her without saying anything else.  _ “It that all? You don’t have any hobbies or things you like to do? Any friends?” _

 

His head tilted to the side curiously as if he wasn’t quite sure what she meant, hie ear cocked.  _ “I run the pack.” _

 

_ “But that’s not a hobby it’s a job. Don’t you have any fun?” _ Reay reached out, scratching her fingers through the ruff of fur on his neck. The more she used the internal mental voice the easier it got.

 

_ “I have been raised from birth to take over as Alpha. There is no time for frivolous activities.” _

 

Rey’s eyes softened. He wasn’t a jerk on purpose- he had been raised that way- which made Rey very sad. For all that she’d had a terrible childhood, she HAD a childhood. She had played and had fun and had hobbies, in between getting shuffled around foster homes. She had dreams beyond a job. She reached out, wrapping an arm over his back in a sort of hug.  _ “Oh Kylo… Before this trip is over, you are going to have some fun.” _


	13. What Dreams May Come

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We are earning our rating here people. You've been warned.

 

Kylo stared at Rey. They had arrived at the beach shortly before sunset, and she had happily sat on the sand to watch as he ran off his restless energy. They talked as the sun set and she walked up the beach to take a few pictures while he waited on the blanket. The more time he spent with Rey, and the more vivid dreams he had about her, the more he found himself fascinated. She had an odd appeal, a mix of innocent wonder and a layer of wildness over an iron will.

 

Which was how he found himself watching her as she watched the stars. Most of the families, tourists, and surfers had vacated the beach by the time she was ready to go; teenagers and groups of young men starting to filter in as it got dark. They looked Rey over, but once they saw him, they didn’t give her any trouble. Maybe her friend Finn was right and she did need a protector.

 

They walked back to the hotel and he urged her to order room service instead of trying to go to a restaurant, her eyes were drooping and she was yawning and he was certain that she would fall asleep at the table. So she ordered several types of prawns, and some steak for him, and after she ate, she fell asleep on the couch with a smile on her face.

 

He watched her for a while, examining her and searching for a reason he was so interested in her. Her skin was that golden tan of someone who was pale but spent a lot of time in the sun. She had freckles across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. Dark lashes and soft caramel brown hair. Her lips…

 

He sighed, shaking his head and padding over to butt his head against her shoulder.  _ “Get up and go to bed.” _

 

She hummed, her hand floundering through the air until she found him and she scratched his ears. He pushed at her again until she got up, rubbing her eyes. “What is it?”

 

_ “Go to bed.” _

 

She inhaled looking around, grumbling about his bossiness, and Kylo found himself trying not to notice how her nipples were pressed against her shirt. She nodded, “Okay, okay…” and stumbled off to the bedroom. He huffed, watching her go with a conflicted feeling in his chest, before he jumped up on the couch. He was just settling in when he felt something hard poking at his leg.

 

He adjusted for a while, trying to avoid the hard thing but eventually gave up, nosing through the cushions. Her phone. It must have fallen out of her pocket when she laid down on the couch. Thinking for a moment, he gripped it between his teeth and carried it over to the hotel closet. Nudging it open he dropped the phone on the floor and covered it with the extra robe, burying it so they wouldn’t be able to hear it in the morning.

 

Then he padded back to the couch, refusing to examine why he wanted to have another dream with Rey, this time uninterrupted by morning alarms.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Rey was in a soft bed, warm and snuggled under blankets, when she opened her eyes. Well, her dream eyes. She was having one of those super realistic dreams again. Looking around she sleepily examined the room, deciding to enjoy this dream. She hadn’t really had time to process the odd dreams she had been having about Ben, because Kylo had been so cranky every morning after she had one. She didn’t know him, had never met anyone who looked like him, but here he was in her head.

 

The bed sheets were white and the dark wood frame had long spindles that stretched up to the ceiling, white drapes hung and tied back. The floor was another shade of wood, planks covered by solid rugs. There was a small table and chairs positioned near a big window, and a fireplace on one wall. It looked like an upscale lodge like the kind you saw on magazine covers.

 

There was sound behind her, a breath and a body shifting on the sheets and she knew before she turned over that it would be Ben. And sure enough, his dark head was laid on the pillow next to hers. He was topless, his broad back bare to her eyes, and she couldn’t help the smile that crossed her face. Even if he was just a dream, she liked him.

 

He rolled over, as if he too were just waking up, and the smirk that tilted his mouth made butterflies roll through her stomach. “Hey… I was hoping to see you again.”

 

Rey bit her lip, blushing as she snuggled down in the blankets with a smile. “Me too.”

 

He chuckled, reaching out to carefully peel away the soft cloud-like fabric as if unwrapping her like a gift. “We keep getting interrupted before I can kiss you.”

 

Her breath coming a little faster, Rey shifted slightly closer to him. “I didn’t know you wanted to kiss me…”

 

“You knew.” He scoffed, giving her a teasing wink, before he leaned in, his face only a few inches from hers. “I think we should start with the kiss. So we don’t miss it again.” His voice was matter-of-fact, as if he were suggesting they leave early for a movie.

 

So she played along. It wasn’t like she would object to kissing him, and the fact that this was a dream made everything feel safe and fun. “Oh, yes, of course…”

 

With a gleam of triumph in his eyes he leaned in and cupped her cheek in a big palm, planting his mouth on hers like he was staking a claim. He was just the right side of rough, but not enough to hurt her but kissing like a man starved. His mouth opened, devouring her, sweeping her up in a storm of arousal, making her whimper as he sucked at her lips, taking her lower between his teeth or roughly kissing the bow of her top before pulling away to pant, “You taste so good…”

 

Gasping Rey opened her eyes with a slow playful smile. “I think you should taste again.”

 

He groaned, making her stomach clench in arousal, and his head dropped back to hers just as a hot hand slid through the blankets, finding the bare skin of her waist. They both glanced down and realized at the same moment that they were naked. He was frozen, staring at her with a struck expression, while Rey was a flurry of movement, covering herself as her whole body turned rosy with embarrassment.

 

“How are you so beautiful?” He breathed softly, still staring at her even though she had covered herself, and Rey looked back up at him shyly.

 

She scoffed, “Now I know you can’t be real.”

 

But he only smiled and slid closer, his face nuzzling into the crook of her neck. “I’m very real, Sweetheart. And I could look at you forever…” He tugged at the blankets, trying to coax her to let him see her again. “It’s just a dream Rey. Let me see you? Let me touch you?”

 

She hesitated, just a moment, and a wave of rightness washed over her. She was safe. This was just a dream. Everyone had sex dreams, it was nothing to be embarrassed about. Ben was literally a dream-guy. So she nodded, ducking her face as he slowly revealed her body again, only for him to rub his cheek on hers and dip his head so she had to meet his eyes.

 

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more beautiful creature than you, Rey.”

 

She wanted to doubt him. She was moderately attractive, but lacking a substantial bust and being a bit on the tall side made most men look elsewhere. But no one had ever looked at her like he was right now. As if he had pulled back the blanket and found treasure, gold and diamonds and the most beautiful woman in the world, instead of plain old Rey.

 

So she relaxed into the bed, letting his hands and mouth wander over her body, relishing in the feeling of being worshipped, even if it was by a guy she made up in a dream.

 

~~~~~~~~

 

Ben had never touched anything as soft as Rey’s skin. As soon as she gave him permission, he was tracing his hands over her belly, her hips, her arms. He dipped his mouth to her skin and was rewarded with a hint of hot salt on his tongue. He didn’t know when he had decided it, but if she gave him the chance, he was going to pleasure her until she begged for mercy. And he was going to lick every part of her. And god, he wanted to mount her from behind. Or have her on top of him. There were too many options and too short of time.

 

So when she shifted on the bed, he settled on top of her, wedging his hips between her thighs and rubbing against her core. Not that he could have stopped it from pressing into her in this position; he was hard as a rock, which meant his cock was long and thick, jutting from his body like a sword. And she wasn’t helping, whimpering and whispering his name, hands buried in his hair and nails dragging over his shoulders as her body wiggled and squirmed against him. “Do you want me, sweetheart? Want me to fuck this perfect little body of yours?”

 

She nodded, eyes glazed, hips shifting. “Yes, Ben… God you’ve got a dirty mouth…”

 

“You like it?” He growled, gripping her hips, and when she nodded, he felt his head go dizzy with arousal. “You like when I’m crazy to be inside you?” She whined as his fingers found her cunt, and he grunted in approval. She was wet, and so hot he thought he might combust. “Roll over, I wanna fuck you good and hard.”

 

Rey groaned, her body flipping over eagerly with some help from him, and Ben found himself gripping her slim hips, hauling her up into position. He shuddered at the erotic image she presented, face down on the bed, ass up, and thighs spread and waiting for him. He could see the wet sheen of her folds just before his body draped over hers, lining himself up with one hand and bracing his weight with the other.

 

His mouth dropped to her shoulder, kissing her skin before whispering, “Ready?”

 

She was halfway through nodding her head when he thrust. She was hot, so hot and slick, and tight enough that he nearly found himself wanting to howl with victory and pleasure. But instead he gripped her shoulder and held her still as he thrust again, working himself into her with a mix of hard bucks of his hips and gentle shifting motions. She was keening, gasping and moaning as her back arched and he forced her back down again. “Take it sweetheart, you have to take my cock if you are going to be mine.”

 

He was just processing that, what he had said and what it meant, when she moaned, “Fuck yes, Ben… Make me yours, don’t stop…” and it sent him back into a mindless haze.

 

Without conscious thought his body moved, kneeling over her smaller frame and jerking into her hard and fast, and he was groaning in her ear again. “Yes, damn you feel so good, your tight little cunt wrapped around me. Can you hear how wet you are as my cock plows into you?” He groaned, the scent of her arousal winding him tighter. “God, I can even smell how much you want this. You needed this, didn’t you, needed to be fucked hard by a man who knows what to do with a sweet little body like yours?”

 

Her mouth had dropped open leaving small wet patches on the sheets as she bit and groaned, eyes closed tight against the bed, hands braced against the headboard. “Yes, oh god yes…”

 

“Say my name not god’s, and tell me how bad you want this.” He growled, reaching around her waist and between her legs, fingers finding her clit.

 

“BEN!” Rey bucked, her back suddenly pushing into him and he grunted, gripping her firmly as he pressed his chest over her, reminding her who was boss right now as she shuddered under him. “Please, oh oh fuck, Ben, I’m so close!”

 

“Come on my cock, Sweetheart, come for me.” He grunted, shifting his hips to hammer at the soft core of her, diving deep as she whimpered and shuddered for him. Then, he flicked her clit just right and she exploded, her body going tight and rigid around him and making him grit his teeth. He didn’t want to cum yet. “I’m not done with you, gonna fuck you again, so you remember who you belong to.”

 

She whined under him and he grunted pulling out of her and pushing her onto her back, his body shoving over her and moving between her knees again. Hooking a hand under her knee, he hitched it up over his shoulder, nuzzling his mouth against her ear. “You feel so good, I can’t wait to do this for real…”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Rey was quivering, the tips of her fingers and toes hot and cold, her skin tight and tingling as Ben lifted her leg over his shoulder, sliding deep again. She grit her teeth, gasping, hands coming up to grip his biceps as she squirmed under him. “Ben, Ben!”

 

He was so deep she could barely breathe, his brown eyes threaded with an oddly familiar yellow of wildness. She couldn’t even focus on what he was saying, only the approving and encouraging tone of his voice, the rough arousal in his pitch. All she could focus on, all she could feel was his hands on her body, the way he fit inside her like no one ever had, and the heat of his breath on her neck as her body wound tight again. “I’m.. Fuck I’m-!”

 

He growled, the sound making her shiver as her hips tilted to take him even deeper. “I know, fuck you are beautiful, I know sweetheart. Do it. Come on my cock so I can fill you up like a good mate…. Good girl..”

 

He shook his head, his hips thrust, and Rey was falling apart, spasming, breaking into pieces.

 

She lay shuddering and gasping, suddenly feeling bereft and her eyes fluttered open. She was alone in her hotel room, still quivering and wet between her thighs, soaked with arousal from a dream.


End file.
